Saving Ai
by TheWhispersWhichFlowGrey
Summary: During Naruto's trip with Jiraya, Naruto gets stuck a few days without his sensei in a small town and saves a misterious girl from being beaten.He struggles to gain her trust and find out exactly why everyone hates her. Rated T to be safe. On HIATUS.
1. Introduction

**Hey there ! This is my first fic ever so pleaseeee, pretty pretty please with a cherry on top be nice. ****The idea of writing a fic 's been bugging me for a while now so...here it is, the first chapter. I really hope you like it ! R&R. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer : I do NOT own Naruto it owns to its respective owner, which is Masashi Kishimoto .The only things I own are the idea of the story and Ai's character. **

**Oh, yeah : " **Blah** "- normal talking**

** " Blah " - Kyuubi or any other demon talking**

** " **_Blah_** " - thinking.**

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><p>The sun rays crept over a hill, slowly slipping through the soft fresh grass to the still asleep town ahead.<p>

In a few minutes, the tiny bits of light reached the houses and, once there, spread like wild fire in all directions, creeping through every crack and gap in every building, letting the inhabitants know that the morning has arrived, bringing with it the beginning of a new marvelous summer day in the Fire Country.

One of the soft rays melted through the harsh white curtains of a three star hotel room, resting on the sun-tanned face of a young sleeping boy.

His hair was a dull yellow color in the shadow, whereas in the fresh light that rested on him was glowing like pure gold.

Soft bangs covered the boy's closed eyelids, sheltering them from the light. His chest was slowly rising and falling as he was breathing, still trapped in an unknown world.

Finally,as the sun rose higher into the sky, the boy stirred. A few more minutes and his eyelids trembled, then opened revealing two eyes of an intense blue color that would make the bluest of the summer skies hide in shame.

The boy stretched and yawned, rubbing the side of the face on which he slept, trying to dispose of the soreness.

Naruto looked around the room, glancing at the simple furniture and finally letting his gaze rest on an unslept-in bed across the room. He mumbled something that sounded like " Stupid Ero-senin and his stupid research... " and got up, heading for the bathroom.

He showered and got dressed in his favorite orange trousers and a simple black T-shirt, after considering the heat which was to come and the fact that his usual-again, orange- jacket was all too of a warm-holder.  
>Naruto adjusted his kunai pouch, than put his headband on, lifting the bangs from his eyes and arranging the blue pandantiv over his T-shirt, so it would glow and beam in contrast with the plain black material underneath.<p>

He plastered his usual fox-like grin on his face, showing to the mirror his perfectly white teeth and a little longer than normal canines, and reached for the door.

He closed it with a surprisingly soft thud, considering his energetic hyperactive self and his strength, leaving the room in a lonely silence, as the echo of his footsteps drifted out of ear-range.

As he stepped outside into the sun he closed his eyes and breathed in hard, pausing for a second, than put his hands behind his head in a relaxing manner and walked forward into the street.

" This'd better be a great day " he said out loud, grinning as a few by-passers turned their heads in the direction of the odd, beaming, glowing and out-loud-talking-to-himself boy.

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><p><strong>Please REVIEW ! * puppy eyes * <strong>


	2. Demon

**Hey again! This is the second chapter, please keep the reviews up and Enjoy !**

**I don't own Naruto. Thanks and enjoy,...again! **

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><p>Naruto was slowly walking through the dark streets of the little town, his face the definition of disappointment. He held his hands in his pockets and his lips were constantly moving, mumbling incoherent words.<p>

He had spent his morning exploring the town, which was smaller than he had previously imagined and not so interesting, he tried looking for his sensei in all the bars and hot springs around, but the tall, white-haired perverted sanin was nowhere to be found. He had been apparently really serious the previous day when they had arrived about the fact that he had " a few things to solve ", as he put it, much to Naruto's surprise, who had been seriously convinced that he had been " researching ", as the sensei usually excused himself-which actually meant that he was spying on naked girls in order to gain inspiration for his perverted Icha Icha Paradise book series.

But as he was nowhere to be found, the only assumption that Naruto could come with was that he actually had some important thing to do.

However, even if he was happy his sensei was actually doing something worthy of his rank and title of sanin, he was annoyed that he didn't spend more time showing him new jutsus and special techniques.  
>He was, after all, on a long three year training trip - something which his sensei sometimes easily seemed to forget.<p>

Anyhow, the day had been boring and now he only wished for something, really anything to happen.  
>He kicked a peddle which had unfortunately taken the bad decision of resting in front of his way, looking around the deserted street rather angry.<p>

When he was a street away from his hotel, his well trained shinobi ears heard a strange noise coming from one of the dark alleyways.

Naruto grinned a huge fox grin, being happy that he had a distraction for the moment, and entered into sneaking-shinobi mode, creeping along the alley from which the sound came from.

However, as he approached and took in the scene in front of him, his smile faded.

Three men, all pretty well-built and slightly muscled, two of them bald and the other one on his way to there, were crouching over a dark pile on the ground, which Naruto soon realised was a human.  
>The two bald ones were kicking the person on the ground with thirst, while the other one-who seemed to be in charge- was laughing cruelly, his hands on his hips.<p>

All three of them were holding kitchen knives in their hands, the leader also having a rather used, dull-looking old kunai, which he probably found thrown away, because no shinobi would use such an old, rather useless weapon.  
>But if meant, the kunai could cause some sort of damage, only that it would mean increased pain.<p>

The air was filled with the smell of blood.  
>Naruto didn't like this.<p>

" Please, p-please,...,"came a soft, hoarse plead from the unknown victim on the ground.

The reaction was immediate.

One of the two bald men dragged the person on the ground by the collar and lifted him up, while the other started punching him in the stomach, silencing him.

The leader stiffened and although Naruto couldn't see his face in the darkness, his voice was leaving an easy job to one's imagination.

" How dare you, you monster " he spit, growling in his rage.

He then lifted the kunai and, gathering all his power and as much speed as he could get, he struck.  
>There was silence for a moment, in which all three men grinned with a look which seemed to say ' Suits him ! ', but the grins were soon erased from their faces.<p>

The leader was the first to recover, the dumbstruck look on his face having been replaced by an angry one.

" What the hell do you think you're doing kid ?"growled the man.

His kunai was held tightly by Naruto's hand, being separated by its previous target by mere inches.  
>Naruto's face was dark, a shadow over his eyes.<p>

For a split of second the only things that could be heard were the victims struggling attempts to free himself from the other man's grip, and then Naruto moved faster than light, before either of the dumbstruck bald men or the leader could react.

He twisted the man's arm, who let go of the kunai and clutched his injured hand with his other, yelling in pain, while with a quick movement he punched the other two, sending them a few meters away down the way he'd come and caught gently the victim.

Naruto blinked in shock. In his arms lay a girl, maybe a few years older than himself, her skin bruised, blue and black, gashes all over her body, her clothes ripped apart and her hair shoulder length on one side, while on the other side roughly cut. She was also covered in blood, both old and knew.

That alone made anger ignite deep in Naruto's chest. He let out a growl.

Meantime, the leader recovered from the shock and was clutching his hand, shooting death glares at the blond intruder.

" What the heck ...!Get lost kid or we're gonna hurt you ! We weren't done with the demon !"he barked, charging forwards.

Naruto flinched at the word " demon ".That was enough to ignite the raging anger.

He gently let the girl on the ground behind him, turned and blocked the attack, holding each of the man's hands in a steel grip.

" _Demon_ ?"he whispered, a whisper more frightening than any yelling could ever be. " _DEMON_ ? " he groweled, and kicked him in the stomach, relising his hands so he could stumble backwards freely.

" What gives you the RIGHT to call her a DEMON ? "he yelled, trying to shut the rage which was not his, but Kyuubi's, out, due to the fact that his own rage was enough.

The man started to tremble, feeling the tension in the air.  
>He looked back where his friends had landed, but they were long gone. He was alone.<p>

" N-n-no.Y-you don-n't un-underst-tand "he stuttered, while Naruto took him by the collar and lifted him up so their eyes could meet.

" 'e 's-s ah' 'em-mon "he stuttered so badly, that you couldn't understand what he was saying.

But Naruto could guess.

The man froze as he saw a red evil gleam flashing in the depths of Naruto's blue eyes. His whisker marks seemed suddenly bigger, like they'd been cut there with a knife, his canines seemed sharper and his eyes actually gleamed red for a second, before they came to normal, as well as the canines and the whiskers.

" Get lost ", Naruto spit out with contempt, throwing the man on the ground, who stumbled to his feet and ran for dear life.

The tension in the air slowly seemed to disipate, while Naruto was glaring at the place where the man disappeared behind a corner, his form a small raging fire slowly ceasing.

A whimper of pain got the blond out of the trance he had been in.

Naruto turned around and his anger melted faster than ice-cream in an oven, a contemplating sadness taking its place.

He hurried to the struggling form on the ground and reached a helping hand.  
>But the moment his hand touched the battered skin, the girl flinched and threw herself further away on the cold ground, trembling, her scared eyes searching madly any sign of movement.<p>

Naruto frowned, wanting to get those guys from before and rip them apart, but he thought better.

" It's OK "he said in the softest of voices. " I'm not gonna hurt you. "

He moved slowly towards her, the girl looking unconvinced and shutting her eyes closed when he reached her, gathering all the strength she had left in order to resist the in-coming pain.  
>However, no pain came. She frowned a little, her eyes still closed, confused. Soft hands were touching gently her legs. She opened her eyes a little.<br>Naruto was examining her left leg with a serious face.

" Your leg looks broken " he said, rising his head and his eyes met hers.

" It's OK " he said, smiling." 's OK You can trust me. "

Then he leaned forward and took her bride style in his arms. She flinched a little at the pain in her broken leg, but she was to exhausted to feel more of it.

She didn't know why she let him carry her, but it wasn't like she had any strength left. Besides maybe, just maybe, he wasn't gonna hurt her.

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><p><strong>Thanks for reading ! Please review ! The next chapter is coming. And quick !<strong>


	3. Jinchuuriki

** Hey there ! The third chapter ! Whoa I'm writing so fast, am I ? Well, this story it's kind of my new obsession, I guess...Please ! Please ! Please ! reviewwwww...**

**Enjoy ! * cute-poor-alone-puppy-lost-in-the-storm eyes * **

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><p>Fortunately, there weren't many people out in the street. However, the few that were still out at that hour all shot hateful glances at the girl who was resting in Naruto's arms.<p>

Naruto, even though used to death glares, he wasn't used to being looked at like that in a foreign town. So he noticed. And didn't like it.

The cold air was starting to get at his naked arms, but he couldn't afford to increase the pace, for the girl was trembling uncontrollably even at the slow pace he was walking in.

Finally they reached the hotel. The receptionist wasn't there.

_' Thank Kami !_ 'thought Naruto, thinking he couldn't stand another of those glances aimed at the girl without punching a few of the shooters.

He climbed the stairs as even and slow as he could, but the girl woke nonetheless - and now that she woke Naruto _finally_ noticed that she had dozed off.

He entered the room and put her slowly on his bed, than turned to lock the door.

" N-no-"she said.

Naruto turned around, but she had hidden her face into the pillow. He lingered there for a moment, thinking what could have caused the girl to say that. He shrugged and hurried, but when the key was an inch away from the tiny hole in which it should be put, it struck him.

That was _exactly_ how he used to behave when he was little. He would always be beaten up in the street and tormented and taunted and he remembered how the first time he went to Iruka's place he was afraid of him locking the door, because he thought Iruka might hurt him and he would have absolutely no way out.

Naruto smiled sadly, than turned around and threw the keys on Jiraya's bed without locking the door.

He felt her gaze on his back as he reached for the emergency medical kit and he went and sat on the bed, watching her, thinking what he should say without scaring her.

" Um..."he started." You should...you should go and take a shower.A-and meantime I'll, I'll order some food ok ?"he asked, rubbing shyly the back of his neck. The girl just stared at him, her eyes wide.

" Come on"he said, as he held his hand to help her and ignored her flinch. " I promise on my honor as a shinobi that I will not hurt you !"he vowed.

' **He, he, brat! You start to resemble that Lee guy.** 'came a demonic voice in his mind, seeming to ignite from every part of his body.

Naruto felt a shiver run down his spine. Did Kyuubi just _mock him_ ?

' And since when do you talk to me, stupid fox ? 'he asked, irony in his thought.

Kyuubi Hn-ed, sounding very much like a certain guy whose name Naruto was purposely avoiding each and every time.

Naruto and Kyuubi really started having small, really small internal talks like that once a in a few weeks. It was odd, but maybe Kyuubi was finally coming round.

Naruto shrugged every other thought off and helped the very confused girl get up and limp to the bathroom.

When the water tap started running, Naruto reached for the phone on the night table and called room service. He ordered nine bowls of hot ramen and two cups of tea, then reached for his rucksack. He didn't unpack it anymore, not now that he was on the road. He got one of his spare pair of trousers and studied his T-shirts. He wasn't an expert, but from the looks of it, those wouldn't fit her. He glanced at his sensei's unoccupied bed.

' _What he doesn't know doesn't hurt him_ ' he thought with an evil gleam in his eye, than reached and took one of his master's large, very large T-shirts.

" This will do " he said to himself just when the sound of the shower ceased.

The bathroom door opened with a crack and Naruto hurried there. The girl was still trembling and looking more and more pale, and now that the blood and dirt was gone her wounds looked even worse.

Naruto frowned and handed her the clothes, blushing a little and smiling encouragingly. The girl still seemed frightened, but it looked like she was keen to play along for now. She took the clothes and closed the door with a shaking hand,while Naruto hurried to the other side of the room, at the door, behind which hard knocking could be heard.

The blond opened and grinned madly, helping the three waiters get the many bowls of steaming ramen inside. The ramen there wasn't like Ichiraku's, but it was fine.

As soon as he had placed all the food on Jiraya's bed-which was slowly,but surely becoming a table- the bathroom door opened again and the girl stumbled over the threshold, having stepped on the wrong foot.

Naruto, the skillful ninja that he was-despite the general opinion-got there before she hit the ground, catching her in mid-air.

She looked terrified again, shaking in his arms, her cheeks scarred and her skin so pale it could've been invisible. Her black like night eyes gazed into the depths of the blond's blue ones. Tears started prickling her eyes, but she held them. He smiled a soft and sad smile and without another word carried her to his bed and started treating her wounds.

She watched awed as Naruto's hands were gently wrapping her right wrist in white bandages. Naruto then pulled a chair which had been laying tossed in one corner of the room and sat next to the bed she was in, handing her a steaming bowl of the not-so-delicious-as-Ichiraku's-but-anyway-delicious-by-deffinition-ramen.

Her eyes widened and she took the bowl, but then looked unsure of what to do, staring empty at the food on her lap.

Naruto gazed at her, racking his brains to find an answer to her behaviour.

' **She needs you to taste it, genius, so she'll know it's not poisoned.** ' the blond boy suddenly heard Kyuubi's 'obviously' kind of tone in his mind.

Naruto decided to accept the peace of advice silently, as another memory of him as a child flashed before his eyes. That seem to happen all too often now, he thought.

He took the bowl from her lap, leaving her with a hurt look in her onyx eyes and took a sip, then handed it back to her.

" It's not too hot" he said, not wanting her to know that he was assuring her it wasn't poisoned. " It's good, you should eat it, to get your strength back. "

He smiled softly and took a bowl of his own, shouting " Itadakimasu " and then wolfing it down in a mere ten second's time.

While he tossed yet another bowl of hot noddles down his throat, he heard her murmur a slight " Itadakimasu " and saw her taking a sip, then another, and the next thing you know she wolfed down more bowls than him. Who would've thought Naruto would be beaten at eating by a girl ?

They than drank their tea silently, letting the hot liquid slip into their full stomachs.

" Hey " Naruto said softly and the girl stirred, but did not take her gaze off the cup she was holding.

" What's your name ?"he asked in a mere whisper, than locked eyes with the shocked-to say at least-girl.

Then she looked down again, on the verge of crying.

" I-I have no name"she said in a whisper so slight, Naruto could've imagined it. " Demons shouldn't have names" she continued.

That made Naruto feel again the urge to go after the ones who hurt her, but resisted.

" But you're not a demon !"he complained, much louder than before.

" Yes, I am "she whispered back, a tear running down her cheek and onto her lips, finally falling into the warm drink.

Naruto gritted his teeth.

" Listen"he started, for once in his life being serious. " If that guys say you're a " demon " that doesn't mean-"

" Yes it does "she cried, louder that he had ever heard her. That froze him for a moment. She, too, seemed amazed by what she'd said and locked eyes on her cup again, continuing in a mere whisper.

" I am what t-they s-say. I-I saw it. It's-it's inside me. I-I'm a d-demon "she said, closing her eyes. " I shouldn't be h-here"

" You "Naruto said, getting hold of her arm, but not too tight,"are not. A demon. End of story. ".

" Yes I am !"she cried again, starting to tremble.

" No you're not ! " Naruto had to make her understand.

An awkward silence settled over the room, while Naruto gazed absently at the tea, from which hot steam still swirled in the air and up to his face, its warm touch stroking gently his tanned skin. He was pretty sure now that she, too, was a jinchuuriki. A human sacrifice. A container. Just like him. But no one seemed to have given her a hint about what was going on with her. She wasn't even a ninja. She didn't know about chakra, and he was sure that the seal, whatever seal her seal may be, would appear only if she used it. But how could that be possible ? She said she saw the demon. Maybe he should ask about it and then try to explain the term and tell her his story. Part of it. Tell her that she wasn't the only one. Damn, he was never good at words !

" Um..."he started. " How does y-your demon look like ?"he asked, unsure. But when his gaze met hers, there was no hesitation in it.

She glared at him for a few moments, her eyes still wet, then looked again at the cup before she started speaking, her eyes never leaving the ceramic vase.

" It...It's big-g a-and ...it-it..."she paused, maintaining her tears in place. Naruto stood, for once, silent.

" It's a cat. " she finally said in an inaudible whisper, but the blond heard heard nonetheless.

" A cat ? " he asked, a little too loud. She shook a little, but then continued, still not looking Naruto in the eye, seeming more interested in the color of the tea.

" It's a huge cat, co-covere-ed i-in...i-in whit-te fl-lames, with-h big...gray s-shiny eyes "

Naruto stared. He didn't know how the all the bijuus looked like, never mind who their hosts were, but she definitely _was_ one.

" W-wait a minute "he said, remembering something. " Doesn't it, you know"he resumed rubbing the back of his neck. " have a tail ? "

She seemed to think a little, than answered : " Yes. Actu-tually, it-t, has two. "

Naruto sighed. He didn't really fancy talking about his...condition.

" First of all, I-I think you are a ...jinchuuriki. Do you have any idea what that is ?"he asked, but she shook her head, never once her gaze leaving the tea on her lap.

" A jinchuuriki is...well, um...how should I put this ? " he could now feel blood rushing in his cheeks, though he couldn't tell why. " A jinchuuriki is, like a host. People,...No. Look ..."

' **You suck kid !** ' Kyuubi roared, in what Naruto considered was laughter.

' _Oh, shut up ! It's not that easy !_ ' . But Kyuubi just laughed even harder, and Naruto ignored him, frustrated.

" There are nine tailed beasts in the world. " he resumed, ignoring The Nine-Tailed Demon Fox which was currently choking with laughter in his mind. " There is the one-tailed beast, Ichibi, the two-tailed beast, Nibi, and so on. The most powerful, however is-"

"-Is the Kyuubi, the nine-tailed beast." ' _The Oh-so-great ! demon fox which is now **fucking mocking m****e** !_ ' Kyuubi laughed even harder.

Naruto breathed in. Hard.

" Powerful shinobi sometimes seal these beast away into a human vessel, in order to...um...protect their villages, I guess, 'cause these demons are pretty agressive and...that's about it.

But it's nothing to worry about! They seal them, so they don't affect the people, the...c-containers ! The demons are trapped inside and die when the host dies. " . He paused, a sad look renting his face for a moment. The nine-tailed fox stopped laughing.

The girl looked Naruto in the eye. She was tired.

" I-I..." she said, not knowing what to say.

" You can trust me " the boy said, looking much more older than he was. " I'm a jinchuuriki too ."

She stared at him, shock written all over her face.

Naruto laughed shyly, but the laugh was hollow. Empty.

" I contain the Kyuubi . Look "

Naruto stood and took of his shirt, much to the girl's embarrassment.

He clasped his hand together, like in a prayer and closed his eyes, focusing on his chakra. He brought a small amount of chakra to his hands. The reaction was immediate. The moment he started to mold chakra a swirl tattoo with strange signs appeared on his belly and the girl gasped. Naruto opened his eyes and looked down at the seal, putting a hand on the swirl design.

" This is the seal that holds Kyuubi " said Naruto, in a low voice. " It appears when I use chakra. And so should yours. "

" C-chakra ? " asked the girl, awed and a little shaky.

" Yeah, 's what you use when you're a shinobi. "

Silence fell over their heads while they were both watching the seal fade away, leaving the skin of Naruto's fitted abdomen untouched.

" You should get some sleep." said Naruto, putting his shirt back on.

The girl nodded and covered herself in the soft, thick blanket, while Naruto threw all the bowls on Jiraya's bed on the floor, getting under his blanket, not bothering to change his clothes.

He then remembered the light and threw himself off the bed, turned it off and jumped back in.

There was silence for a while, while the soft rays of moonlight slipped unmarked through the window glass, covering the room in a strange fog-like white light.

" I'd like to be called Ai, i-if that's ok..." the girl- Ai - suddenly whispered.

Naruto flinched, but then a soft smile spread on his face.

" Good night ,...Ai " he said. He could almost feel her smile.

After a few minutes, Naruto was still glancing at the wall ahead of him, shadowed now by the night's darkness. He recalled the events of the day. Actually the event of the day.

He sighed.

The girl's breath was soft and even and Naruto knew she was fast asleep.

He turned on the other side. If only he could fall asleep. But he knew he couldn't. Not with all the Oh-so-lovely ! childhood memory flashes that run through his head.

He closed his eyes, expecting to see a younger self curling up in a ball in a dark alleyway not much different from the one he found the girl being beaten in, but instead he drifted slowly into a comfortable sleep on the rhythm of the steady breath of the girl.

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><p><strong>Ai means love. <strong>

**Pleeeeeease review!**

**Oh and I know that Ai's bijuu doesn't actually exsit but, then again, neither do all of these, so...**

**Just review ! And tune in for the next chapter ! * MEGA BEAR HUGS FOR ALL * **


	4. Enter Jiraya !

**Hey again ! This's the new chapter, hope you'll like it ! **

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><p><em>He was a child again. A blond, hyperactive, small, skinny child. His blond hair was swirling in the wind as he was running, bangs shining like pure gold covering his sapphire blue eyes that held a sparkle of joy and a light only his eyes could hold. He was laughing hard, enjoying the run. The grass felt soft and chilly beneath his feet and the sunlight warm on his tanned skin. <em>

_After a while, he saw a greenish material ahead, seeming to move in fluid motion. As he approached it, he learned it was the forest. His smile grew bigger as fresh shadow casted by the old trees' canopy swallowed him, his hair losing its golden shine._

_As he run deeper and deeper into the forest, the trees grew larger and older. His smile faded, being now surrounded by ancient trees, all too big to see their tops. They seemed to suck all the light and happiness from before, leaving a sense of fear and darkness instead. Shadows seemed to hide behind every trunk, behind every root that rose from the ground. _

_Naruto started to shake, darkness engulfing him and the forest. _

_Suddenly, a white sparkle emerged out of the darkness, out of nowhere. He stumbled to it, reaching his hand to touch the tiny sparkle, the tiny hope. But as soon as his finger touched it, it started to glow red and the next moment it turned into a tail which wrapped itself around the tiny body, squeezing. Two red eyes and fangs emerged out of the darkness,and a demonic voice roared with mad laughter. The boy struggled, but as he struggled the tail squeezed even harder, pushing the breath out of his lungs, crushing his arms and legs._

_Naruto tried to scream, but no sound came out. He struggled but strength had left his body. _

_The echo of a lost whisper shot through the blackness. Naruto could feel his eyes closing. His heartbeat ceasing. _

_' Wake up, wake up,...wake- '_

" NARUTO !Wake the hell up ! " someone whispered nervously into Naruto's ear, shaking the boy awake.

The blond shot his eyes open. He was breathing fast, very fast and his heart was pounding in his chest and temples. He could feel cold sweat running down his forehead.

' Just a nightmare 'he thought.

As his breathing steadied, he looked up. His sensei was sitting on the corner of his bed, looking worried and a little embarrassed, a slight redness in his cheeks.

" What ? " Naruto asked, trying to dispose of the bitter sensation the dream had left in his mouth.

The white-haired sanin stared suspiciously at his student.

" You were talking in your sleep. " he said, in a very low whisper.

Naruto studied his sensei. From the looks of it he...

Naruto gulped at the thought, than voiced his fears.

" Did I-did I dream about kissing Sakura-chan again ? " he asked.

" Hell no ! " came the louder response. The sanin clasped a hand over his mouth and looked around nervously.

" What's wrong Ero-senin ? " asked Naruto his seemingly insane sensei. If he didn't dream of kissing Sakura-chan again- he shivered at the memory- what could it be that made the sanin look so embarrassed ?

" Don't call me that . " came the harsh reply and then leaned forward and whispered in Naruto's ear :

" There's a ...a _girl_ in your bed. "

Naruto stared at the red face of his sensei and resisted the urge lo laugh.

He than glanced at the said bed, where the girl-where Ai lay sleeping beneath the blankets.

Naruto smiled a little, his mood saddening at the memory of what had happened in the alleyway the night before.

" So what ? " asked him his sensei.

The sanin looked taken aback.

Then understanding dawned upon him.

" You didn't _do_ anything to her, _did you,_ stupid Ero-senin ? " he whispered, mumbling the last part and eying the said sensei suspiciously.

" No, of course not, baka ! " he answered, offended, than punched Naruto slightly on the head, threatening through gritted teeth. " And _stop_ calling me that !"

The girl stirred and both men froze, one of them out fear of awakening her, the other one just frightened to death.

" Did - did _you_ do anything to her ? "Jiraya asked his student, feeling uncomfortable.

" What do you- " Naruto asked, confused, than as he understood the meaning of what his sensei inquired his face turned red.

" Of course not ! What makes you think that, stupid Ero-se-" he yelled, but was cut by the response of his teacher.

" I thought I told you NOT to call me that ! And besides, what do you expect me to think when I come and find a girl- a _girl_ Naruto, in your BED ! "

" Well _excuse_ me, but am I in the same BED as her ? Noooooo ! Nonononono ! ' No Jiraya, he's not in the same bed as her . You're taking this the wrong way ' Didn't _that_ occur to you, Ero-senin ? "

The sanin punched Naruto again, harder this time roaring annoyed :

" DON'T CALL ME THAT ! "

' **Brat, you're scaring the shit out of her. She's awake.** 'the stiffed with laughter voice of Kyuubi suddenly vibrated through his mind.

Naruto's head jerked in the direction of his bed, where Ai was hidden beneath her blanket whole except for th eyes, with which she stared at them full of pure horror, her knuckles white from clutching the edge of the blanket too hard.

Jiraya followed Naruto's gaze and all color drained from his face when he saw the sparkle of consciousness in the girl's eyes.

Naruto calmed down, getting off the bed-where he, actually both of them, had been standing up on their feet- and approaching her slowly, afraid she might jump or explode if he moved faster or made the wrong move.

He also held his hands in front of him, in a I'm-not-gonna-hurt-you-see-? sort of manner.

" 'morning Ai. It's me, Naruto, do you recognise me ? "he asked softly.

Ai nodded, staring fearfully at the white-haired sanin, who was frozen on his spot on the other bed.

" Ok, that's good. don't worry it's ok. This- " he said, pointing at his teacher."- is my sensei. The one I've mentioned yesterday remember ? "

He awaited her confirmation, which came in a slight nod, before continuing.

" He's harmless, don't worry. Actually, he's probably more scared than you. You see, he's... frozen. " An evil smile crept on his face.

" Anyhow, he was confused as to why you're here. If you could please get off that blanket, so I can introduce you to him ? " he asked, maintaining his soft tone and carefully chosen words- which was not like him at all, but after all- desprate times call for desprate measures !

The girl looked unconvinced, but after a few moments started too move, slowly. Fortunately, Jiraya remained on the spot.

Ai took the blanket off and tried to rise in order to sit straight on the bed. She winced in pain, forgetting her leg was broken. Naruto'd forgotten too. He hurried and helped her. Ai's feet gently touched the cold floor, but she didn't seem to mind. She drew a breath in and took a quick glance at Jiraya, who started to move once he saw the poor condition the girl was in and understood something else must've happened that brought the girl there. He was a_ sanin_, for Kami's sake ! He couldn't be scared by a girl, could he ?

Ai quickly lowered her gaze to the floor when Jiraya's eyes met hers. Naruto put a hand on her shoulder.

" Hey, look at me. Look at me "

She obeyed.

" 's gonna be ok ! Trust me " he said, giving her one of his famous fox-like grins.

She must've been mad, but she trusted him. After all, he was like her, wasn't he ?

Naruto got up, standing like a loop-sided kinda bridge between Ai and the sanin, who managed to get there and look more like the ninja he was than a frightened psycho.

" Ai, this is my sensei, the one I was talking about. " he started, pointing with his hand at the sanin, who managed a weak grin .

" Ero-senin-"

" Stop calling me that " mumbled the sanin, but Naruto just ignored him.

" -this is Ai."

Both said people were now looking at each other, unsure of what they should say next.

" Um... I'm Jiraya, this bloke's sensei. Nice too meet you " said Jiraya, stretching a hand out and grinning.

" See ? " Naruto encouraged the girl. " He's harmle-WAIT A MINUTE ! WHADDAYA MEAN BY BLOKE, HUH ? "

Ai flinched, not used to the full-powered yell of Naruto Uzumaki. Naruto ralised the mistake and grinned sheepishly.

" 'rry. " he apologized.

An awkward silence filled the next minutes.

" Um...we should eat, ne ? And maybe afterwards we could get Ero-senin to check your seal, he knows these stuff better." Naruto broke the silence.

At the word seal Ai paled, whilst Jiraya raised an eyebrow.

" Oh, yeah. No worries here Ai ! " he laughed." Jiraya knows I'm a jinchuuriki. He's used to that kinda stuff."

Said sanin's eyebrow looked like it could take off now, and the other one soon followed. Naruto was the number one hyperactive unpredictable ninja, loud and sometimes denser than cement, but Jiraya knew he wasn't one to speak easily of his ..."problem ", or for that, complain or whine about it. Actually, he didn't -now that he thought of it- once hear him even mention it, not even in front of his friends-his family-the persons he trusted most. Even with him, Jiraya, he was reluctant and spoke of it only if necessary .

" She's a jinchuuriki too. " Naruto said, rather too happily.

Ai paled-if that was possible- even more. She could now be mistaken for a marble statue.

Jiraya felt like face-slamming his forehead. Was that kid dumb ? You didn't just go and tell in front of our people stuff like that ! It wasn't ...you just didn't do that ! Plus, a single look at the girl and any normal person would've seen that was a subject to be talked round and get to it after a lot of gaining-trust kinda talk. Apparently not Naruto.

' **This is my friend, she's smart, a little too shy, her favorite color is blue, she likes sushi and oh, did I mention she's the container of a demon ?** ' taunted Kyuubi, voicing Jiraya's thoughts in Naruto's head.

' _Damn ! Nobody appreciates me ! I'm not dumb-_'

' **'course not** '

' _-it just needed to be done ! Now shut up and get back to whatever you were doing, stupid you...you...you fur ball !_ '

' **Damn, now _that_ hurt ! Imagine being called a _fur ball_ ! Tsk kiddo remember I can hear your thoughts and this fur ball's become subject of nightmares. Beat that little human ! **'

' _I'm a shinobi ! Besides, it was just a stupid dream !_ '

' **Whatever, brat**.'

' _Anyway, how come you talk to me ?_ '

' **I was bored. Fine I'll go if you want. Stupid mortal. You should be more respectful. Not many can talk to me like that and walk out in one piece, never mind...**' Kyuubi continued talking to himself, his voice slowly fading from Naruto's mind.

' _This is odd ._ ' thought Naruto. He wasn't used to talking like that to Kyuubi, but it felt...nice.

The blond turned his attention back to the real world, where Jiraya was eying curiously Ai and said girl was still frozen. Naruto sighed. He had to do all the talk by himself. Why did he always got stuck with stoic, boring and useless at conversation people ?

" Ai, he's used to this. He may even be able to help you, or at least tell what demon you host and what kinda powers it has and that stuff. I know Ero-senin is a weirdo, but he's fine. "

" Hey " cried Jiraya.

Both ignored him.

" Now lets get some ramen, I'm starving ! " Naruto said, helping Ai calm down and replacing her bandages, while Jiraya was just thinking.

* * *

><p><strong>Thanks for reading ! I've always liked the idea of a friendly Kyuubi and a friendship between the two of them ( meaning Naruto and the fox, of course ). <strong>

**I intended to make the chapter longer, but than I figured I might as well add a new chapter with what I was gonna say. Don't wanna make the chapters too loooong, it'll be boring. Hope they're not too short, though.**

**I'd like to thak Xamd for being the first one to review one of my stories ( my first story ) ever ! You really made my day ! **

*** HUGS * **

**Review ! **


	5. Of haircuts and gaining trust

**Hey agaaaain ! This is the new chapter ! I made it a little longer. I also thought a little humor wouldn't do any harm now, ne ? * evil chuckle * **

**Enjoy and if you enjoy pleeeease ... * setting some fireworks which rise to the sky and spell ... guess what ? * REVIEW ! **

* * *

><p>" Hey stop that Ero-senin ! Don't make her laugh ! "<p>

" Well I'm not doing anything ! I'm merely lightening the mood by telling her a story ! And stop calling me that, for Kami's sake ! "

" I don't think that me trying to go out with Sakura-chan, hugging Sakura-chan or anything really that ends up with Sakura-chan punching me through walls is funny, or for that, a story ! "

" Hmph ! Kids these days don't appreciate art "

" Old man "

" Brat "

" Old perverted excuse for a ninja "

" Stupid little practical joke "

" I'm not a joke ! "

" I'm not an excuse ! "

" Yes you are ! "

" Than you're a joke, too ! "

" ... Ero-senin ! "

" STOP THAT ! It's not funny ! I told not to call me that ever ! Especially in public ! I'm one of the three legendary sanin that, mind you, are- "

" Perverted ? "

" LEGENDARY, YOU UNGRATEFUL BRAT ! "

The echo of the collision between Jiraya's punch and Naruto's head vibrated through the walls between which all three of them- the two so-called shinobi and Ai- were gathered together, trying to fit into the tiny hotel bathroom.

Naruto was holding a pair of scissors in his right hand, trying to cut Ai's hair on her right side so it would be the same length as on her left side, where it had been previously roughly cut, probably as a result of the encounter with the three men Naruto'd saved the girl from an evening before.

Jiraya was sitting in an uncomfortable and unfortunate position on the " throne", as Naruto kindly put it-and gained a proper " thank you " from said sanin- and was trying to make conversation with Ai, who was still not herself in his company. He was also trying to gain her trust, like Naruto'd miraculously done-though it might'd had a little bit to do the fact that he, like the girl, was a jinchuuriki. His easy way of acting around other people had been of great help, too.

Anyhow, Jiraya had tried to entertain Ai with cute little stories about Naruto's in vain attempts to get out with Sakura, but that, of course, gained him deathly glances-and something more than glances, too- from his student.

" Should try to cut it in an actual hairstyle, brat. Don't want her to look like some kind of mutant-'rry Ai "said Jiraya, leaning his head on his hands, bored now that the conversation was over. Even if he wouldn't admit it in a thousand years, bickering with Naruto was fun.

" Well, I'm trying ! " complained Naruto, not liking to be criticized. " Maybe you should try it, Ero-senin, if you're that good at it ! "

" Maybe I should " said the sanin, happy to have something to do and to get out of the stupid position he was sitting in.

Naruto hmph-ed and gave him the scissors, mumbling something incoherent and squeezing through the tiny space left between Ai's chair and the wall, while Jiraya was doing the same thing on the other side.

He took the scissors and positioned himself behind the girl, who became nervous at once. Her back stiffened when the sanin touched her hair.

Jiraya frowned a bit, not being able to help wonder if that was just how his student was when he was little. He shot a quick glance at said blond, who was gazing at the wall ahead of him, not really seeing it.

" Be right back " he mumbled and got out of the bathroom, leaving the two of them alone, the only sound filling the room being the one of hair being cut.

He finished cutting her hair in silence. When he was done he was pleased to see the girl's reflexion of her tiny mouth dropping a little in amazement. Her chocolate hair was falling straight in the front of her face, the tips of it merely touching her shoulders at the base of her neck, while in the back it was cut shorter, reaching the middle of the neck and increasing its length smoothly on the sides of her face. The haircut was fitting her, making her face seem more oval and covering a little of the scratches on the sides of her cheeks.

Naruto reentered the room with a biscuit in his mouth. Both heads turned in his direction.

He swallowed and looked up. A wide smirk spread across Jiraya's face when he saw his student's jaw dropping ten kilometers. He stood there, wide-eyed, his lips twitching in attempt to find the proper words to express whatever was that he wanted to say.

The sanin's smirk grew larger. He finally managed to leave his too-talkative-for-his-health student speechless and he wasn't going to let that opportunity pass by.

" Cat got your tongue, Naruto ? "

The lips weren't the only part of the blond's body twitching, as his left eyebrow started miming the mouth's movements, but rather in frustration than in awe.

" I-I-You-How " he stuttered.

" You-I-you sorry Naruto ? Are you trying to say something ? " taunted the sanin.

" I- HOW THE HELL DID YOU DO THAT ? " yelled the awed boy, regaining control over his body and pointing an accusing finger at his sensei.

" Do what ? " asked said teacher, feigning innocence.

" You-you-you can cut ! "

" I beg your pardon " Jiraya asked, enjoying this way too much than he should.

Both men froze as a giggle filled the air. Naruto didn't giggle. Jiraya only giggled if he saw naked women.

Sensei and student turned their heads in Ai's direction, both wide-eyed.

Ai's giggle grew larger, turning into a laugh. Her laughter filled the room, lightening the mood and soon two other laughs joined in, enjoying their private little joke. A joke which has never been said, but still worked as a joke.

* * *

><p>A black-haired, green-eyed man, almost in his fifties, a pair of round glassed on the tip of his nose and some impotant-looking documents in his hand, dressed in a white shirt with a black tie and black denim trousers walked through the lobby of the three-star hotel he worked in, mumbling a " Good day " as he by-passed the receptionist and climbed up the stairs.<p>

" Room 56, room 56 " he whispered to himself as he by-passed several wooden doors, searching with his little eyes the golden piece of metal on which said number was engraved.

He stopped in front of a door identical to all the other ones, the only difference being the two black numbers : five and six.

He knocked on the door, hoping its occupants weren't too much of morning-persons, otherwise he would have to come by again in the evening.

He knocked once, twice, three times, repeating the process louder and louder. He sighed and gave to leave, when he heard a few muffled, weird sounds coming from behind the door.

He listened more carefully. There was someone in the room, indeed. But what was that sound ?

Fearing for the worst he tried the door handle and hurried in when he found, a little amazed, that the door opened with a crack.

The room looked empty, but the sounds seemed to come from the bathroom. He approached it slowly and when he was two feet away it happened.

He jumped three meters high and nearly suffered a heart failure when the bathroom door burst open and something- or rather someone- fell straight on the floor, roaring.

When his heart calmed down a little he realised the person wasn't in immediate danger-actually, not in danger at all. He was laughing.

In front of him lay a young boy with blond spiky hair, dressed in orange pants and a black T-shirt laughing with tears, hitting the floor with his left fist and clutching his stomach with his other hand in an attempt to cease his laughter.

From the bathroom other two voices shot through the air, one that roared powerfully and another one, seeming more elegant, but laughing hard nonetheless.

Anger seemed to take control over his body as blood rushed to his head. He hadn't had an easy morning : he had a fight with his teenage daughter, who wanted to date some repulsive bloke who wasn't worth it, his wife argued with him on the same subject, at work he had another fight with his best subordinate, his other daughter and her fiance had trouble with the fiance's best man and his mother had been trying for weeks to convince him to go on a family holiday, when he knew he could lose his job if he did that now. And now, this awful day, he entered this room fearing for the worst, thinking Kami knows what happened and nearly had a heart attack because of a few blokes' idiotic joke and their laughter. He gave in.

" WHAT on EARTH is going on HERE ? " he yelled, losing control and clutching the papers so hard they were in danger to be suffer an awful fate.

* * *

><p>Naruto clutched his stomach in pain. Why they laughed so hard at something not that funny, he didn't know. Maybe they were disposing of all the stress and fear the girl-Ai brought, but it was relieving.<p>

He gasped for air, trying to get as much of it as he could, but his laughter was making that a hard job. He was starting to get light-headed. He stumbled backwards, hitting the door which wasn't-unfortunately for him- completely closed. The door burst open under his weight and he flew like a rock to the ground, still clutching his stomach.

' **Idiots ! Some are trying to sleep here ! Stupid idiotic mortals !** ' grumbled an unhappy Kyuubi.

He didn't know why, but that only made Naruto's laugh increase and as a result he started banging his fist on the floor, suffocating from the lack of air.

He heard someone yell nearby and tried to lift his head, but it was no use.

As his laughter ceased he drew in huge mouthfuls of air, making up from the temporarily previous lack.

He stumbled onto his feet, still clutching his stomach and grinning madly, his voice hoarse from all the roaring.

" I ASKED WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON ? " yelled an enraged old man in his fifties, his face red and a vein pulsing on his forehead.

Naruto tiled his head on one side, looking like a curious dog. The other one looked like a ready-to-explode pile of bombs, breathing heavily and tightening his grip on some unfortunate papers.

" Eh, who are you ? " asked Naruto, wondering what might a stranger do in his hotel room. On the background of it all, the roars of Jiraya and the laughs of Ai started to die down, being replaced by heavy breathing sounds.

" I-" the man said, taking a huge breath in. "-I am the mana-mana-manager . This-"he struggled, drawing a poor-looking paper out of his fist and stretching in to the blond in front of him. "-is your pay bill "

" PAY BILL ? " yelled Naruto, backing away like the piece of paper had rabies.

" _Pay bill_ ? Who said _pay bill_ ? _Pay_ what ? " came the emergency tone of Jiraya from the bathroom.

The white-haired sanin soon rushed from behind the door frame, taking his student by the shoulders and shaking him hard.

" _What_ paybill ? "

" Do-on't kno-ow ! Sto-op i-t stu-upid E-ero-se-enin ! A-ask 'i-im ! " said Naruto, looking angry.

Jiraya stopped shaking his now angry-looking student and turned his head in the direction of the old man. He was wearing round glasses on the tip of his nose, his hair was black, going bald at the top of his round head, he was dressed elegant in a white shirt, tie and denim trousers and he held his hand stretched in front of him with a piece of paper in his fist.

He was red, a vein pulsing on his forehead and he was shaking.

" Sorry, may I help you ? " asked the sanin, taking a serious pose.

" Of damned course you can-" the man started, but stopped dead in his tracks, the vein on his forehead disappearing from view and his face burrowing the color of marble at the sight of the teacher's and the student's headbands. Ninja.

" Um..." he said, lowering his fist and trying to bring the paper to its original neatness." Sorry I yelled I-I thought there was something wrong and I-I am the manager and this-this is the p-pay bi-ill from the room service. " he said through clattering teeth.

" Ero-senin " Naruto said, looking serious. " I think he's sick or something. One minute he's red and the next thing you know he turns white" the blond observed.

" Yeah..."agreed Jiraya, looking worried. " WAIT ! " he yelled, jerking his head in Naruto's direction. " Did he say room service ? "

" Well, um...no ? " tried Naruto, sweatdropping and backing away.

The sanin mumbled something like " I'll deal with you later ! " and took the pay bill from the scared manager's hand, who disappeared out of the room quicker than the eye can catch, closing the door silently behind him.

" Man, " said Naruto to himself, gazing at the door. " He would've made one hell of a shinobi. "

The blond turned his attention to the pay bill which the sanin studied like it was the Bible, a vein starting to throb on his forehead.

The scratched head of Ai popped from behinf the batroom door frame just when Naruto backed away in time to avoid the collision with the steel pointing finger of Jiraya, which was directed at him.

" Nine bowls of ramen ? Whaddaya need nine bowls of ramen for ? One isn't sufficient for ya, ne ? " yelled the sanin, breathing hard and looking like ready to charge.

" Well, um...there was Ai and-"

" Ai ? " Jiraya asked the girl softly, never his gaze leaving his student.

" Y-yes ? " she stuttered, panicked.

" How many bowls did you eat ? "

There was silence for a moment, before she answered a little shaky :

" F-five. "

A smile crept onto Jiraya's lips. An evil gleam made its way to his eyes and Naruto hit the wall with his back, panicking. He was cornered.

Jiraya slowly walked forwards, placed a hand on his student's shoulder in a father-like movement, than started shaking Naruto with anger, while yelling :

" WHYDIDYAHAVETOEATFOURBOWLSFOR ? "

* * *

><p>'<em> This is stupid and embarrassing<em> '

' **Admit it, brat : You like it !** '

Naruto shivered as a few boys from a gang whistled at him from the side of the road.

' _Why you !_ " Naruto thought, as Kyuubi's laughter emerged from his mind.

" Stupid boys..."he mumbled under his breath, trying to walk straight.

' **At least if it doesn't work out with the pinky one, you know you can always turn into a girl.** '

'_ Shut up you...!_ '

' **Hey, incoming bloke ! Be nice, Naru-_chan_, maybe you'll get a date.**'

Naruto growled, both mentally and out loud, looking round in time to see a black-haired guy with a rather ugly face and a huge smile plastered on it putting a hand around his shoulders and falling into pace with him.

" Hey pretty ! " said the boy, sending a wave of beer perfume towards Naruto's trained shinobi nose.

Naruto wrinkled his nose and shook his shoulders, pushing the other guy's hand away.

He sometimes hated being a girl. Ok, he never hated it, because of the fact that he always henged in a girl for his own purposes-which included pranking and spying-but when he had to be a girl in an undercover mission, it was always a drag, as his friend, Shikamaru, would put it.

He always made himself a too sexy girl and attracted too many boys.

" Fuck off " he said, annoyed and increasing the pace. But the boy didn't give up so easily.

" My,my..." he said, catching her-him again. " How grumpy we are today, ne ? "

Naruto breathed in and counted to ten. In was of most important to reach the store without losing his cover.

" Whanna get a drink, maybe two, pretty ? " he asked again, making Naruto lose the thread of his thought- of counting.

" No " he answered harshly. He could see the store ahead now. He was so close. If only...

" What's your name ? " the brunette asked, putting his hands in his pockets.

Naruto sighed. Maybe if he gave a name he could get rid of him faster.

" Hinata " said Naruto, without thinking. He frowned. The name came to him in an instant.

That made sense though, he thought. He couldn't picture himself as a Sakura. Actually, he couldn't picture himself as a Hinata either, or for that as any other name that ended with "-chan", but it would do for the moment.

" Well, Hina-chan...Can I call you Hina-chan ? "

Naruto winced. ' _Hell no !_ ', he thought.

" No " came the reply through gritted teeth.

" Well, why not, ne ? "

" Suki janai " he said, as harsh as he could.

" Oh, Hina-chan ! Don't be so-" he started to complain, but was cut short by a powerful punch in the stomach.

" I said I don't like it ! " growled Naruto, than made his way into the store, humming happily when he heard a wave of insults coming his way.

A smile plastered upon his face, but disappeared as fast as it came.

" Can I help you, dear ? " asked a nice old lady with long, black hair from behind the counter.

Naruto looked around at all the dresses and skirts he was going to have to try and sighed.

As he made his way through the rows of pink clothes he heard Kyuubi's voice say ' **Try the pink one, Hina-chan !** ' and punched him mentally.

* * *

><p>Jiraya made his way to the bed Ai lay on with a glass of water. She took the water and sipped, thanking him in a low voice.<p>

Naruto has just left shopping clothes for the girl, as she couldn't walk-and from the looks of her fast-healing wounds it wouldn't be advisable to show herself anyway.

Jiraya sat on the chair Naruto had sat in a night ago. Before he left, he told his sensei all Ai'd told him about her demon. That worried him.

It didn't worry him the fact that she was a jinchuuriki herself- there were many jinchuurikis, as almost all the tailed-beasts except one were sealed into humans- but the fact that the demon she hosted didn't exist !

Well, it existed, as she hosted it, but the sanin didn't hear of its existence before.

From what Naruto had told him, it was supposed to be a two-tailed white cat.

Only one problem there-there wasn't a white two-tailed cat.

There was The Nibi, Nekomata, of course, which was a cat, but it was blue and it was sealed in a Cloud jounin ! It couldn't be that one. And all the other tailed-beasts were anything but cats.

Gaara's was a kind of weird dog, Yugito's was the Nekomata, the cat, then there were the three-tailed turtle, the four-tailed ape, the five-tailed whale-horse, the six-tailed gastropod, the seven-tailed beetle and the eight-tailed octopus. And Naruto's fox, of course.

No white cat there, all right.

But then, how ?

Jiraya's thread of thoughts lead to one conclusion : he had to ask Ai.

" Ai " he started in a serious, but soft tone.

" Y-yes, Jiraya-sama ? " asked the girl, not looking at him.

Said sanin felt his chest fill with pride and thought : " _The brat should do that more often_ ", but told her nonetheless :

" You can call me Jiraya, really."

The girl nodded, mouthing the word. There was silence as Ai took another sip of water.

" Look, Ai. I'm gonna need you to tell me about the demon. "Jiraya tried again.

The girl felt a cold shiver run through her spine. She winced, but after a while-in which the sanin thought he might have to ask her again- she answered, in a very, very low voice.

" I-it's a c-cat. " she said.

" What does it look like ? "

" I-it's big, with wh-white fl-laming fur a-and three tails ." she said.

Jiraya nodded and opened his mouth to ask another question, but stopped dead in his tracks. Three tails ? Naruto said there were two.

" Three tails ? "

The girl looked shaky and nodded slightly.

Jiraya sighed.

" Ai, you're gonna have to be honest with me. I do not intent to harm you, but please-please don't lie. "

She rose her eyes to look at him, guilt written all over her face.

" How many tails does this demon have ? "he asked.

Ai looked at him with black onyx eyes, than suddenly burst into tears.

" Ai ? " asked Jiraya, putting a hand on her shaking shoulder. " You ok ? "

" I-I " she said through sobs. " I di-didn't wa-want to-o lie, b-but h-he wanted to kn-now how ma-any ta-tails and I -I-

-I said two 'ca-cause..."

" It's ok. " Jiraya said, trying to calm her down. " I won't hurt you. Nobody will. It doesn't matter if you lied. Just tell me the truth now. It's ok. Shhh..."

Finally, after a few minutes, the girl calmed down. As she spoke her voice was steady, but tears were flowing on her cheeks nonetheless.

" The c-cat. " Jiraya nodded, willing her to continue.

" The cat changes. E-each ti-time I saw it it ha-had another number of tails. Last time it had two. On-one time it didn't eve-even have a tail. It jus-st emerged out o-of the fla-lames. The fla-lames took the shape of a tail, then of two tails, then of six tails and then they died down. I-I don't know how many ta-tails really are. " she said, looking at the sanin with pleading eyes.

He stroked gently her fresh-cut hair and took some brown bangs out of her wet eyes, smiling gently.

" Thanks, Ai. It's very interesting. "he said, spacing out for a moment.

" Naruto should come soon, I'd better order a few ramen bowls . " he broke the silence, rising. " would you like anything else ? "

Ai's eyes widened but she shook her head, awed.

" Ok " Jiraya said and reached for the phone, thinking this might just get a whole lot more interesting than he had previously thought when he saw that girl sleeping soundlessly in Naruto's bed.

* * *

><p><strong>Thanks for reading ! <strong>

**" Suki janai " means " I don't like " ...'rry guys...just showing off a little since I'm finally taking japanese classes he, he * blush ***

**And I'm gonna have to apologize forward since I'm gonna be gone for a few day's and I won't be able to upload new chapters . Sorry ! But as soon as I come back I promise : " I vow on my honor as...me that I will upload so many chapters you'll get sick ! "...Now _I'm_ starting to resemble Lee...Oh, God ! **

**Better stop now. But seriously, the chapters are gonna flow in faster than chocolate in my mouth ! ( And I _love_ chocolate ! ) **

**See you guys and sorry in advance ! **

**Love you all ! * Hugs for all ! * **


	6. Warmth

**Hey ! I'm back ! ^_^ This is the new chapter, srry for being so late and all. Really, I mean it ! **

**Um...what else,...oh, yeah this's gonna be a shorter chapter, kinda the calm before the storm. Hope you'll like it. **

**R&R ! **

**Enjoy ! **

* * *

><p>She lifted her head in order to see the reflection in the mirror. She gasped. A frown spread on her face. This couldn't possibly be her !<p>

On the smooth surface inside the wooden frame of the mirror lay a girl with chocolate shiny hair, silky and falling with grace on the sides of her face, barely touching with its tips her shoulders. Her eyes were big and dark like a starless night, but held a tiny sparkle of newborn joy than made the air lighter.

She was dressed in a beautiful knee length silk dress the color of sand, which flowed on her a little too skinny body like solid water, and on her feet she wore peach-colored sandals. The skin on her face, shoulders and legs seemed soft, although held a few already healed scratches. She looked a little battered, with the broken leg which was covered in white bandages and all, but she also looked...beautiful. She didn't remember herself being beautiful. She always thought she was... ugly.

" So ? "came the hopeful voice of Naruto, whose blond head popped on the side of the mirror, glancing at the same image she was gaping at. " Do you like it ? " he added.

She opened and closed her mouth for a few seconds, too bewildered to think of an intelligent answer. She felt her eyes starting to prick. Naruto's expression changed rapidly into a panicked one, as well as his voice.

" It's ok if you don't like it, really. I got more dresses and skirts and stuff, I just thought that the color suited you. But it's ok, we'll just try another one and ..." His gaze met the ground but a second later he fell with a loud thud, collapsing under the weight of Ai, who'd jumped on him and wrapped her arms around his neck, yelling something that sounded like " Thank you ! " over and over again.

After the initial shock, the blond patted her on the back, blushing heavily, mumbling a " 's ok. Um...you're welcome . "

Ai got on her feet, helped by Naruto, a blush coming to her cheeks too.

The young shinobi glanced at his white-haired sensei when he heard a slight giggle and growled a little at the humongous smirk on his face.

" What are ya looking at ? " he grumbled, heading for the door.

" Noth. Just thinking " said the sanin, his smirk growing-if possible- even larger and helping the girl limp to the door.

* * *

><p>As Ai had expressed loud and clear her wish not to be seen in public- with nearly a panick attack at the mention of the idea- Naruto and Jiraya considered their options and decided it was best to carry her and get fast and easy to where they wanted to go by means of a traditional shinobi " mean of transport "- if you could call it so -which was jumping from one rooftop to the other.<p>

Given the speed with which they so traveled and the chakra that they used to increase it, they quickly arrived to a wide " grassy " field, with white flowers here and there and a forest somewhere at the end of it.

Naruto put Ai down on the grass and inhaled deeply. The air smelled like fresh grass- a welcoming change from the smell of rotten wood mixed with different other..." perfumes " that seemed to float over the town.

" Ok ! " he yelled, feeling home. " Me and Ero-senin 're gonna train there-"he half-said half-yelled in his usual manner, pointing first with the thumb at himself, than at Jiraya- who mumbled at the nickname, but held his tongue- and then indicating the edge of the forest. "- that all right ? "

Ai nodded.

" Oh, and please Ai do not come too close ok ? " Jiraya suggested, than leaned closer and added in a whisper : " This bloke tends to overdo the training. The forest might end up a few trees short, if you know what I mean " he winked.

" Heard ya Ero-senin ! " came the yell of Naruto Uzumaki who was currently already at the edge of the forest doing some warming up.

Jiraya shrieked. ' _How on Earth does that kid hear from that distance ?_ 'he thought.  
>He shrugged and walked away, joining his student.<p>

Ai leaned her head back, glancing at the cloudless sky. The clear blue reflected in her black eyes, burrowing them the color of the sea. She then looked down at the grass. She touched it with her fingers. It felt warm, like everything felt since Naruto had appeared in her life. Felt warm like the feeling that sprung up in her chest when she looked into that mirror, or when she ate the ramen the blond first gave her, or when she looked into those kind, blue eyes...

Those eyes. And that smile. That face. How can someone so kind and loving keep a demon inside ? She shook her head. She kept a demon inside, too. But she had never really thought of herself as kind or loving, or for that, a human.

A soft, real smile crept onto her face as she stretched her hand, leaning forth to take a flower.  
>She detached it easily from its tiny roots and brought it close to her face. She studied the small, fragile white petals that started from somewhere beneath the pollen-filled orange core and grew upwards, only to swirl in the opposite direction when they reached a certain height and curl inwards.<p>

Maybe her life was going to be different from now on.

Maybe she wasn't going to hide any longer.

Maybe she wasn't going to fear no more.

Her smile grew larger as a certain blond's yell shot through the summer air : " Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu ! "

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><p><strong>Thanks for reading my tiny little work ! * kisses *<strong>

**I plan of putting some action into the next chapters so tune in and, of course, pleeeeease review ! **

**See ya all soon enough ! * blowing a kiss that takes the form of a magical word, which is " review " * **


	7. Chakra

**Hey ! Sorry for the long wait ! Really...I know you hate me, but I love you and I'm gonna make up for it ! Promise !**

**Enjoy and hope you'll like it. * kiss * **

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><p>She rose her foot higher, trying to stretch it correctly.<p>

' _Damn this is hard !_ ', she thought.

Her muscle started to tremble slightly, then, as she rose her foot higher and held it more tightly, it shook with the force of an earthquake and feel back down, throwing her off balance in the same direction.

Two strong hands slipped smoothly under her shoulders a moment before she hit the ground, then proved their strength by slowly lifting her up again.

She got to her feet, helped by the hyperactive blond.

" Hey, that was better ! Way better ! " he said, grinning hugely and displaying his perfectly white teeth.

" No, it wasn't "she cried, bowing her head. " I'm not ever going to get this right. I'm a lost ca-"

"- No you're not ! " complained Naruto loudly. " Taijutsu is a matter of practice and training-"

" Which is the same thing "stepped in Jiraya, but Naruto shot him a glare and continued, his confidence unshaken by his sensei's comment.

"- and I'm sure you'll get it right anytime soon ! "

He gave her the thumbs up and his teeth's momentary shine blinded the other two.

' **Toldya ! You're turning into the Lee brat, brat** ! ' came Kyuubi's voice in Naruto's mind and he immediately stopped his teeth shining, much to the others two relief. That gained him a mean laugh from the Nine-tailed fox and that gained the fox a mental growl.

Ai bit her lip, looking uncertain.

" Never give up ! "added Naruto solemnly. " That's my nindo-that's my ninja way ! And you shouldn't give up either."

Ai smiled. She didn't know whether she believed him for what he said or for the confidence and pride in his words, but she did nonetheless.

She touched her healed leg-the broken leg which healed in three days due to the demon she had in her- and repeated the technique again, determination on her face.

* * *

><p>' <strong>Chakra is the molding of the physical energy, shintai, present in every cell of the body and the spiritual energy, seishin, gained from exercise and experience. Once one learns to mold it, one can channel it through the chakra circulatory system, which is to chakra as the regular circulatory system is to blood, to any of the 361 chakra points, called tenketsu. Chakra is not normally visible to the human eye, though chakra can be seen in situations where a person releases as much of their chakra as possible.<strong> '

' _And in _ENGLISH_ ?_ '

' **It is English. Not my fault you can't understand simple explanations like this one.** '

' _Simple ? _SIMPLE_ ? _That_'s _not_ simple! That's the dictionary definition ! I'm supposed to explain Ai in a _simple_ way what chakra is, not to cause her brain damage !_ '

' **Well, you asked for my help idiotic mortal ! How can you call yourself a ninja and not understand the idea of chakra ?** '

' _I understand it ! _' Naruto yelled annoyed in his head. '_ I just don't know how to explain it_ '

'** Well, I'm tired so good luck with it** ' retorted Kyuubi, then retreated into silence.

Naruto was red with rage.

' _Stupid Ero-senin and stupid fox. Why did that perverted excuse for a sensei left me explain chakra ? I'm no good at words !_ ' he thought, half-sad, half-raged.

Ai's hair was swirling along with a few dried leaves around them as she stood onto the soft grass in front of his new sensei, her eyes seizing the changes of the last one's facial expressions.

Slowly, her black eyes lost focus and seemed to look through the red-faced blond, somewhere unknown.

She recalled how her life had changed in only a few weeks. Before Naruto, she couldn't even picture herself as a human being, but now her life seemed too good to be true. She met Naruto. She befriended him and his sensei. They healed her, then for the past two weeks Naruto taught her taijutsu, Jiraya having to leave with some business-which she suspected included her demon, but didn't mind. She learned she was a jinchuuriki. People in town didn't know where she was, so didn't attack her anymore. And now the blue-eyed boy which had changed her life was standing in front of her, preparing some unknown lesson.

The days passed by like a dream. It used to be a never-ending bloody night before, but now they passed quickly, and for the first time she learned the real meaning of time.

Time passed in a haze. So it did before, that's true, but now the haze left in her head flashes of memory : the warm light of the sun on her skin, the chilly breeze of the night, the wet grass, the smell of ramen in the morning, noon and evening. Laughter. Laughter that was hers and not hers. Bickering. Blond locks that covered sparkling blue eyes. White long hair. The pain in her muscles after a day of training. The ease which fresh water left after slipping down her throat. The yell, the constant yell of Naruto Uzumaki.

Flashes of memory and longer, fresh even now, flashes of certain events, like the night she met Naruto.

" Ok " announced the blond, ripping Ai from her thread of thoughts, putting an abrupt end to it. The girl's attention was immediately switched, focusing one hundred per cent on Naruto.

The young shinobi inhaled deeply. He could do this. He was a shinobi, wasn't he ? He only had to think of it as a mission, even if it wasn't one.

" Today I'm gonna teach you ninjutsu ! " he said in his straightforward usual manner.

Ai suddenly looked scared. She turned a shade paler, but remained focused, a determined look on her face.

Naruto shrugged, not knowing how to start. Or where from. Goodness, he had to focus his thoughts !

" Ok ! "he announced again, and Ai felt like lifting an eyebrow.

" So,... in order to do cool jutsus, you need to use chakra. Understood ? "

Ai nodded. He had half hoped she would say no. It was easier to explain that jutsus needed chakra, but that was way too obvious, even for a civilian.

" So,...um,...yeah! Chakra is like a ... light, or something, a-a-a-an energy. Ok ? " he awaited confirmation and continued. " So this energy is inside all of us. There is a minimum which you never have to use in order to live. That keeps us alive. But the rest of the chakra you can mold and create jutsus and then you can learn to mold it and swirl it and that's how I learned Rasengan from stupid Ero-senin whom I had seen doing it and I was like ' Wow ! what's that ? Teach me ! ' and I'm pretty convincing so he thought me and here I am ! "he said in one breath.

He stood there, panting a little, looking all too pleased with how his explanation turned out and grinning madly.

" Got it ? " he asked, already planning to show her the hand seals.

Ai looked utterly confused-and that_ is_ and understatement !

" Um...sorry, but can you repeat that ? " asked the girl.

" Um, yeah sure ! " said Naruto and drew in a breath, ready to repeat the whole thing again. Kyuubi's voice stopped him, however. The girl was horrified and was glancing wide-eyed at the blond, asking herself if he really was gonna do that all over again.

'** Oh Goodness, brat ! Just stop talking ! You're confusing the shit out of her ! Damn, after you're explanation even _I_'m not sure I know what chakra is !** '

' _Well, _I_ think I did a pretty good job ! Look, she even asked me to repeat myself, so she can imprint my words in her mind !_ ' retorted Naruto, full of impossible-to-shake pride and confidence.

' **' _Imprint_ ? '** ' asked Kyuubi, not sure whether he should bang his head onto the cage in Naruto's mind floor or just put an end to it and kill himself. He decided to do none.

' _Uh-huh !_ ' came the confirmation, and the fox's head moved an inch towards the floor, before stopping. ' _**Gotta drive some common sense into 'im !**_ ',he thought.

' **Ok, hate to break it to you, brat, but she didn't ask you to repeat that rubbish, never mind on account of ' _imprinting_ ' it in her mind. What she wanted to say was : ' Oh, Naruto-sama ? Could you fucking talk in damn English ? '** '

' _Well _I_ think different !_ '

' **For Kami's sake brat ! Just repeat after me : Chakra is-**'

'_-No, I'm not gonna fill her head with that dictionary rubbish !_ '

' **Fine ! Would you like to fill her head with your _completely_ senseless rubbish, than ?** '

' _Ok, ok, ok,...let me think !_ '

' **Good luck with _that_ ,brat !** '

' _Ha, ha. Amusing. Really._ '

Naruto racked his brains a little. He had to prepare a speech. A _coherent_ speech. And fast.

Then a bell rang in the pitch blackness.

' _That's it !_ ' he thought, enthusiastically. Kyuubi refocused his attention on the outside world. He just _had _to see that. He hadn't had so much fun in centuries !

" Ok. Listen up Ai ! " he commenced.

Ai lifted her head and prayed silently.

" Chakra is like a cake ! "

' **And here we go again !** ' said Kyuubi in a low growl, his head really banging onto the floor in Naruto's head .

Ai sweatdropped.

Naruto seemed to be the only confident one.

" A huge cake. Imagine you eat from it. If you eat too much, the cake disappears. So to say, dies. But as long as you leave a small piece there, it lives on. "

The girl and the fox both lifted eyebrows.

" You can take pieces from the cake and you can mold them. You can use them to give you energy, you can throw them at Ero-senin-" Naruto giggled and went on with his explanation based on his hobby-food. "-and so on. Now, the cake is the chakra reserve in your body. Ok ? You always have to leave a little there. It's like a flame inside you. You have to feel it and then you bring it to you using what we call hand seals, like when you use chopsticks to take a piece of cake !

Got it ? "

' **You don't seriously think that this is gonna-**'

Ai nodded, her face enlightened.

" So it's like : you have this energy, you never have to use it all, and you bring it up using hand seals, right ? "

" Yeah ! " yelled Naruto, resisting the urge to hug her. " Exactly ! "

' _What were you sain' fur ball ?_ '

'**- work !** ' finished Kyuubi his previous sentence, frozen with shock.

Naruto just grinned, satisfied.

" Ok. Now, the chakra runs through your body exactly like blood. Got that, too ? "

" Uh-hum " nodded the girl.

" Ok ! " yelled the blond. " Now I want you to first bring your chakra to your feet. Push it down, as low as you can. Feel it, push it, and jump. "

" Jump ? asked Ai, a little confused.

" If you use chakra you'll jump higher than normally. It's good practice and we have to move things fast. Normally, I would take you slower, but..."he explained, rubbing shyly the back of his neck.

" Ok . " agreed Ai and immediately got to her feet.

" Press your hands together, like this. " said Naruto, folding his hands like in a prayer. " It'll help you focus "

Ai mimicked his movement and closed her eyes.

" Search deep inside you" said Naruto, circling her slowly . " Find the flame.

Ai struggled. For exactly fifteen minutes she stood there, eyes closed, hands folded, trying to find something. Anything.

She imagined a white flame burning inside her. She imagined a warm feeling, like a fire that's burning within.

She even thought she found her chakra, but it turned out she only imagined it.

Finally, she opened her eyes, relaxing her now sore muscles and sighing.

" I can't ! I can't find it ! I'm a disaster ! "she nearly cried and sat on the grass. She couldn't believe she had come so far and failed at the very end.

" No you're not ! " contradicted Naruto, pulling her up again. " I was a total mess at the beginning, too ! "

Ai looked at him, visibly doubting every single word.

" Ok, here's what we're gonna do " said the blond, an idea popping in his head. " Ok ! Gimme your hand "

She obeyed. Naruto took her hand and placed in on top of his right one. She blushed a little at the contact. She wasn't used to this kind of things.

" Now,-" the boy started, a serious, but soft look on his face. "- I'm gonna bring chakra to my hand so you can feel it, ok ? You'll get the feeling and you'll be able to find yours. " he said.

Ai nodded and noticed he didn't use the word " might". Her pulse grew higher.

' **Why not just run chakra through her hand ?** ' asked Kyuubi, finally getting over the shock that Ai understood the cake comparison.

' _Because chakras are different, that much I know. It would give her the feeling of mine. I only want her to get the general feeling of chakra._ "

Kyuubi blinked in utter astonishment. That was...an intelligent thing to say. And it came out of Naruto's mouth.

' **Maybe you have a brain, after all !** '

Naruto just ignored the comment and finished spacing out, returning to the real world.

He closed his eyes and found his blue invisible energy, bringing a certain small amount to his hand, enough to cover it whole.

Ai closed her eyes, too. She could feel the soft wind, the tickle of her hair and the feeling of Naruto's hand beneath hers, his hard, but soft skin under her own. And than she felt it.

It was like a wave. It came like cold water, emerging from the blond's wrist and engulfing his hand in a very thin layer, then it grew bigger, slowly warming up.

It was tickling her skin a little, now warm like the sunlight but fluid as water.

And then, as quickly as it came, it was gone.

Naruto opened his eyes and Ai opened hers.

" So ? " he asked, hopeful.

Ai gazed at his blue sparkling eyes and a smile crept onto her lips. Her entire being was smiling.

" Wow ! " she finally breathed.

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><p><strong>Thanks for reading and hope it wasn't too boring ...<strong>

**I can't believe I've written seven chapters ! SEVEN ! It started as a one-shot, but my hand keeps pressing the buttons of the keyboard, if u know what I mean, and ideas keep flowing ! **

**Next chapter out soon ! Tune in ! **

**This story is approaching its end, but that's what I think now. Who knows what ideas I might get... Please tell me what you think of it !**

**Review ! * pulling a " Free hugs ! " banner * **


	8. Henge no jutsu !

**Hey there, again ! Nice to see you ! I know I deserve an awful punishment for being so late at updating, but pleeeease forgive me ? I had a few things to solve around 'ere and that took a little of my time ! I hope you'll enjoy the chapter and * cough * * cough * ... forgive my stupidness * blushing and making puppy-eyes * ...I'd like to ask you to review, but I don't really deserve it...* sigh * **

**Anyway, as an apologize I promise the next chapter'll be out in no time ! Really ! * vowing like Lee ***

**Enjoy ! **

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><p>Pitch blackness. Just entirely dark.<p>

Nothing to see, nothing to hear,...nothing there.

Ok, now she could hear the distant whisper of the wind and the slight breathing of her blond companion, but she didn't pay any attention to it. The sounds were like from another world, for she had detached from those.

She was looking inside herself. Eyes closed, hands folded. She could see nothing and payed no attention to what she heard, or felt, or the growing soreness in her legs. She searched the blackness for something small, something that had to be warm, but fluid. That was the sensation she looked for. A tickling, fluid flame.

Easy job ? Nope, not that kind.

Even if it might sound easy to find something deep inside yourself, this was hard, for the resource, the flame, the thing she was looking for wasn't meant to be found. Normal people didn't search it. Most of the people didn't even give a moment's thought about it during their whole lives.

Yeah, it was a rather difficult job.

She dug deeper and deeper into her being, hearing the outside world's sounds slowly fading away.

And then it came. It was a flash, a flickering of a fame. A drop of water. But it was there.

It was almost as she had expected it to be : a fluid flame. But that wasn't all that was to it.

It was thin. It felt thin. Not too little, but thin. And soft. It felt unusually soft. Soft like a velvet.

Yeah, that was it. It was like a warm, fluid velvet. It reminded her of vanilla, for some unknown reason-which was strange, due to the fact that she had never tasted, touched or saw vanilla in her whole life. People didn't give her that kind of chances.

But the word just sprung from her mind at the feeling of her chakra.

That's when she became aware of it : she had found her chakra !

It took her a split of second to react.

" I DID IT ! " she yelled, her eyes suddenly opened and her hands shooting through the air, upwards.

Naruto let out a scream of surprise and fell from the unfortunate position he had been sitting in : up in a tree, on a high branch, meditating-which was actually dozing off a little under the pretext of having to " train his mind ".

He fell face-front onto the grass and before he had the chance to blink and breathe in, Ai was wrapping her arms around his crumbled form, squealing and whooping excitedly.

" Whoa-whoa-whoa ! Calm down ! What happened ? " asked a strangled, out of breath and confused Naruto.

" I did it ! I did it ! " squealed the girl again, letting go and grinning madly at his sensei. " I found my chakra ! "

It took Naruto a full minute-thirty seconds to process and the other half to send and follow the instructions of his brain. Then his face brightened, a smile spreading across his face. He shot upwards, punching the air.

" YATAI ! That's great ! Now I can teach you jutsus ! "

Ai smiled. This felt like home.

Like a real one.

Then Naruto's face straightened.

" Ok " he announced, clasping his hands together and stretching his muscled. " First of all, try to find it again. "

Ai glanced at him, seriousness written all over her oval face.

She nodded and closed her eyes, resuming the position she had been previously standing in. She concentrated again. It should be easier to find it, now that she knew the feeling of it.

A little afraid though she had been of not finding it, the warm feeling of a thin velvet surfaced to her nerves faster than before. She felt like whooping again, but before she could open her eyes, Naruto's soft voice whispered through the air :

" Hold on to it. "

She struggled a little, eager to make her sensei proud. She had nearly let go, so she clutched an invisible hand tighter around it.

Only now that she had a good temporary hold onto her chakra did she notice that her breathing fastened and she could feel small premature drips of sweat on her forehead.

She exhaled.

" Ok "said Naruto. " Now bring it to your feet. Push it down. "

She tried to push. Now, the velvet seemed made of iron. It wouldn't move.

"_ No !_ ", she thought to herself. She wouldn't give up now, so easily.

She pushed harder and harder still, for what seemed like an hour or two, when in reality only a mere five minutes passed by.

Then she felt it moving. Slowly, the chakra moved downwards, the tickling advancing too.

And then it fell. It sort of slipped through her body, stroking her stomach as it brushed by and coming to a halt when it reached her legs. There she pushed the chakra outside, easier than before, and felt it swallowing her legs, covering them in a thin layer.

" Now open your eyes and jump ! " called Naruto, and she didn't hesitate, for her grip onto the energy weakened along with seconds.

She didn't even let her eyes adjust to the light. She shot them open and jumped.

It was like flying. She expected her to be parted from the ground by a few millimeters, but found herself meters away from the grass and going upwards still.

It was incredible how the thin layer made her jump so high !

And then she started falling. The excitement made her momentarily forget to hold on, and now suddenly she didn't have chakra in her feet anymore, and the ground was approaching fast.

She closed her eyes, awaiting the impact.

A small kind of thud like a wave swirled through the air.

Ai didn't remember the ground feeling so... weird. But than again, hands weren't exactly ground.

The girl opened her eyes and saw the blue depths of Naruto's.

The blond was holding her bride-style in his arms, looking her in the eyes, beaming and grinning maniacally.

His white teeth were adding to the effect.

" You did it ! " he laughed, putting her down.

Ai recomposed herself and, shaking a bit, she collapsed onto the grass.

" I 'spose I did it " she whispered.

She felt exhausted.

" Ok ! That's with the training for today ! You used a little bit too much chakra . Next time, try not to push _all_ of it in you legs, ok ? "

" Yeah " breathed Ai back, then her eyelids fell slowly and she drifted into a overuse-of-chakra induced, deep sleep.

* * *

><p>She woke up into a delicious smell. She didn't know what it was, only that it smelled ...divine.<p>

She didn't open her eyes at once, but let the flavor imprint into her nostrils, for she knew that was all she would get.

And then it flooded back to her. All the memories since she met Naruto washed over her brain, and it was full of hope that she opened her eyelids in search of a certain blond and of the source of the dizzying smell.

Naruto was standing in front of the door, with his back to her, apparently locking it.

But where did the smell come from ?

As soon as Naruto turned around, the answer presented itself.

The blond was standing there in the door way, dressed in his usual orange pants and a white T-shirt with red swirl on the chest, his golden locks shooting upwards, held by the headband which he took off only once in a blue moon and held a rather big-ok, medium-sized- white box, from which the smell flooded and filled the whole room.

His face brightened and a smile appeared on his lips when he saw the opened eyes of the girl.

" Ai ! "he greeted, grinning and approaching. " 'u up, finally ! " he said.

Finally ? What did he mean ?

" What do you mean ' finally ' ? " she voiced her thoughts.

Naruto put the box down on the nigh table and smiled sheepishly, rubbing again the back of his neck.

The girl's eyes were locked on the box as he spoke, imagining what could be inside it that smelled so wonderful and made her mouth water.

" Well, you overused your chakra a bit"the blond started. " So you slept about the whole day. "

She nodded, not really interested anymore. She glanced at the box, imagining she could feel the taste of the food inside. Actually, the scent was so hard she could've really felt it.

Naruto followed her gaze, a bit confused.

' **Let her eat dumb-ass !** ' called Kyuubi in his head, a little gloomy and audibly bored.

' _Hey !_ ' complained Naruto. ' _Who are you calling a dumb-ass, smart-ass ?_ '

' **You, idiot ! Who might I insult while I'm stuck in here ? 'U think anyone else except you idiot hears me ?** '

' _Ok, grumpy ! If you want, I'll just stop talking to ya. It's not like you're the best company in the world !_ 'retorted the blond, taken aback by the fox's attitude, but apparently the nine-tailed Bijuu wasn't listening anymore.

Naruto wondered for a brief second what could it be that made the demon so upset, but he shrugged it off quickly, resuming to the real world.

" Wanna eat ? " he asked Ai, who seemed to swallow the box of pancakes with her stares.

The girl's head jerked in the blond shinobi's direction, huger in her eyes, her hair flying around her head from the speed.

She nodded violently.

" What is it ? " she asked, resisting the urge to stare at the white box again.

" Um...pancakes ? " came Naruto's response.

Ai's face was puzzled.

Naruto gasped.

" What, 'u never heard of pancakes before ? "

The girl shook her head slowly, not understanding why it was of so great importance to know the term.

Naruto's jaw dropped a few meters.

" Wha' ? " he asked incredulously.

Ai shrugged.

" ' Pencakes ' ? " she said, testing the word, than shook again her head.

The blond's jaw dropped a few more meters.

" Um...It's ' pancakes ' " he corrected her.

" Oh " she said, mimicking the movement of his lips a few more times, soundlessly.

Naruto reached for the hot box and opened it, sending another wave of delicious smell in the direction of Ai's bed. Her mouth watered again still.

" Here " he said, handing her the box.

She looked down at it, mesmerised, than stuck a hand and took one hot pancake covered in white sugar powder.

She glanced down at it for a second, then brought it up to her face and barely touched it with her lips, testing. Then she bit.

The soft delicious bit of pancake was filled with chocolate syrup and she chewed it slowly, savoring the taste, than she let it slid down her throat. She closed her eyes, felling the bite of desert running down into her stomach, leaving a warm trace behind. Her mouth was full of the sweetness and requested for some more of it.

She didn't wait. She opened her eyes and wolfed down the whole of the box in a few minutes.

" Wow ! Take it easy ! You might choke ! " laughed Naruto, feeling so much anger for the people who had treated her so badly in this town that it bubbled like pure acid in the pit of his own stomach.

Ai was looking like a purring cat, happy and full. She was also feeling a bit sleepy.

She took a glass of water from the blond and sipped a little, then her eyes were covered by her heavy eyelids again and she drifted into a comfortable sleep once more.

* * *

><p>" Ok ! " said a very happy and energetic like usual Naruto, putting his hands on his hips and smiling.<p>

" Today ' he announced. " I'm gonna teach you your first jutsu ! "

Ai smiled, feeling butterflies of excitement in her stomach. She had awaited this for a whole week.

She had learned how to walk on tress-though she still was kind of shaky at that, but managed-, walk on water and how to better control her chakra, so she didn't use it all at once.

The chakra overuse induced sleep was long since left behind.

And now, she was going to be taught her first jutsu.

" So, you know shinobi channel chakra through hand seals ok ? " asked Naruto, and Ai confirmed.

" Great ! " he said, grinning. " There are twelve basic hand seals, which you're gonna need to learn. The others you learn along with the jutsus you use them in, like...like the one for shadow clones or summoning techniques. "

Ai nodded, feeling the need to prove that her attention was entirely directed at her sensei.

Naruto clasped his hands together and started naming the hand seals, his hands shifting rapidly from one seal to the other as he spoke.

" There is the bird seal, the boar, the dog, dragon, ox, tiger, serpent, rat, horse, monkey, hare and ram " he said.

Ai blinked. The images of different hand positions were mixing in her head, making it impossible to stoop on one.

" Now I'm gonna do them slowly and I want you to imitate. Ok ? ' he asked, grinning and Ai agreed, feeling relieved.

He showed her the seals again, this time repeating the same seal over and over again, with the girl mimicking the movement of his hands.

" You just need to practice a little more, that's all ! " Naruto assured her, then went on explaining.

" Ok. Now, for what I'm gonna teach you you'll only need the dog, boar and the tiger. "

Ai nodded.

" Now, just try to make them faster, one after another. " he said.

The girl repeated the hand seals for a few minutes, till she managed to make them faster, without pausing in-between.

" Great ! Now, the jutsu is called Henge no jutsu, or Transformation jutsu. It makes you transform in anyone or anything you like. "

The girl's eyes sparkled. She could turn into anyone. An idea sprung to her mind immediately. If anyone was chasing her, she could have a quick and easy get-away by turning into someone else.

She smiled. Naruto smiled back, knowing what she was probably thinking. That was the reason he had chosen this jutsu over the others. That and the fact that it was a lower class jutsu.

" Ok. Now focus your chakra and release it through the seals. " he said, beaming. " Oh, and don't forget to think of someone you'd like to turn into. "

" Ok " she said, already in position, closing her eyes.

She clasped her hands together and concentrated, feeling for the warm velvet which was her chakra. She pushed a little to her hands, covering them. Then she drew a breath in and made the seals, releasing a bit of chakra with every hand sign she made.

A cloud of whitish smoke puffed into existence with a low sound, covering her entirely.

Naruto stared, beaming. It looked like she had made it !

The smoke vanished quickly. Naruto's eyes widened and his smile grew impossibly large as a streak of snow-white, dense hair and a tall silhouette emerged from the cloud.

Then the rest of the body showed itself, the smoke gone as fast as it came.

The blond grinned madly, showing his white teeth to the perfect , smiling replica of his white-haired sensei.

" You look familiar..." Naruto said, feigning confusion and rubbing his chin like he had a beard there.

Jiraya smiled, a reddish shade on his cheeks and his eyes gleaming with joy.

" I did it ! " the replica of the sanin squealed girlish and started whooping around the place.

Naruto couldn't maintain his laugh. It was just so amusing to see his sensei acting saw embarrassing. Even if it wasn't the real Jiraya.

" And that's why I never whoop ! " chuckled an amused voice from behind Naruto.

The blond jumped twenty meters high, backing away and his face palling.

He looked like a ghost.

The replica of Jiraya's skin lost all its color, too. Then, the whitish smoke engulfed him again and from it appeared a pale-looking Ai.

" E-ero-senin ! " greeted Naruto his real sensei, feigning innocence.

Jiraya was standing there, in front of them, hands on his hips and looking rather amused, but trying to look ferocious. Obviously, he was enjoying this.

" Hmph ! " he said. " You don't have to look like you'd seen a ghost, I was just kidding ! " laughed Jiraya, deciding to put an abrupt end to his teasing once he saw the girls face covered in real fear.

The both teens relaxed, Naruto letting out a huge sigh and Ai still looking a little shaky, but the color having returned to her face.

" Ai " Jiraya called, gaining her attention.

He grinned.

" I think I've found your demon ! "

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><p><strong>Thanks for reading ! I know I don't deserve it, but if you feel like reviewing... * whistling innocently * ...let go of the burdening urge to do that ! * he, he * <strong>

**Love you all for reading this ! * HUGS * * KISSES * **


	9. Henkanbi

**Hey again ! Toldya I'd make up for it ! Here's the new chapter !**

**Enjoy and please review ! ^^ * peace sign ***

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><p>" You did <em>what<em> ? " asked Naruto, and incredulous look on his face, his high voice echoing through the trees and losing into the forest.

" That's right ! " said the sanin, his grin growing bigger. Then he turned to Ai and repeated. " I've found your demon . "

Ai's face was impossible to read. She was blinking rapidly. She could feel tiny butterflies swirling in her stomach and her pulse increased. She was going to find out which demon she contained.

Naruto, however, was not that fast-witted.

" Whaddaya mean ' _found_ ' her demon ? " he asked, blinking confused. " Her demon it's inside her! _That_'s the idea of a jinchuuriki ! "

Jiraya rolled his eyes at his student's stupidness and the girl sweatdropped. Naruto could be so slow and dense sometimes !

" I didn't ' _find it_ ', genius ! I found _out_ which demon she hosts . " Jiraya explained, expecting the look which showed understanding.

Naruto looked utterly confused for a moment, than his face brightened with acknowledgement .

" Oh " he said.

" So what are ya waitin' for ? An invitation ? " yelled the blond. " Tell us what demon it is ! "

Jiraya rolled his eyes again.

" I was waiting for your smart brain to process that much information ! " the sanin teased, than cut his student, who had opened his mouth and was about to protest.

" Anyhow,- " he said, raising his hand so as to silence the young shinobi. " It's a rather interesting story, so you'd better sit . " he said.

After they were all standing comfortably at the shadow of an old oak, Jiraya started telling his story, both teen's attention completely focused on the words he said.

" I researched a little. "

" A month is not ' a little ' " mumbled Naruto, but the sanin just ignored his student's comment.

" It's kind of tricky, your demon. " he said, turning to Ai, who was all ears. " It hasn't got, as you say, a certain number of tails, which is highly unusua-"

" WHAT ? " stepped in Naruto, jerking his head back and forth from the girl-who had suddenly blushed- to Jiraya-who looked rather unhappy to be interrupted. Again.

" B-b-b-b-but you told me it had two tails ! " yelled the blond, pointing an accusing finger at Ai, whose face was now completely white.

Jiraya rolled his eyes for maybe the third time that day. And when he thought he had only stayed with Naruto for a mere fifteen minutes.

He banged his fist onto the blond's head, causing him to shriek and to protest.

" Hey ! What was that for ? " he asked, rubbing his new-formed bump.

" For interrupting me. " retorted Jiraya and continued, shotting a deathly glare at his student, who fortunately remained quiet.

" As I was saying-" he went on . " It appears that Ai's demon's number of tails changes. So, as to say, it transforms. Right, Ai ? "

The girl nodded.

" Ok. There is a thing you might want to know. As far as we know-or knew, until now- there are nine-tailed beasts in the world. And the thing that is to them is that they each have a certain number of tails-to be more precise, from one to nine.

Now, Naruto's got the Nine-tails, the most powerful. But I don't think the number changes, right Naruto ? "

" Nope "answered the blond shinobi. " They tend to remain nine. " he teased, rolling his eyes.

" Exactly " said the sanin, ignoring the sarcasm. " But Ai's demon changes his number of tails.

After enough research, I've discovered an old scroll which mentioned something about a special demon : the Multi-tailed demon . "

The echo of Jiraya's words hung in the air around them, in the silence that had set upon the three, almost visible.

Then in Naruto's mind a demonic voice erupted, making him tremble.

' **Oooh, so that's where Kayuki's been all this time .** " said Kyuubi.

' _Kayuki ?_ ' asked Naruto, his attention swifting places.

' **Yeah** ' said Kyuubi, rather melancholic. ' **The Henkanbi** '

'_ Henkanbi ?_ " asked Naruto, repeating the word.

' **That's what I said, brat !** ' growled Kyuubi, returning to his cage's solitude and his gloomy mood.

' _Wonder what's wrong with 'im ._ ',thought Naruto.

He shrugged it off and returned to the real world, where Jiraya had apparently been speaking, not noticing his previous lack of attention and the absent look he had had on his face as he'd talked to the Nine-tailed fox.

"...so I've asked the man an he said he thought it was a legend, a myth. There hasn't been any record of this beast. Not in five hundred years. That's a bit odd. But, apparently, you-"

" Henkanbi " Naruto intervened, interrupting his sensei.

Two heads with confusion written on their faces turned in his direction, their eyes on him.

" I beg your pardon ? " said Jiraya, raising both eyebrows.

" That's what it's called. " said the blond, then as he saw the other two still looked confused he added : " The beast. It's Henkanbi. "

Both sanin and girl looked amazed.

" Henkanbi ? " asked Jiraya, his eyes looking lost.

" Um...yeah, that's what I said ! " said Naruto, resuming his old habit of rubbing the back of his neck. They were staring at him.

" B-but how do you know that ? " asked Jiraya after a few moments of contemplating silence, sounding suspicious.

Naruto hesitated for a moment, but then decided to tell the truth.

" Kyuubi told me . " he said simply, blushing a little for an unknown reason. After all, it wasn't something to be embarrassed of. He was the damn fox's container, he had gained the right to talk to it now and then, didn't he ?

Jiraya's face was impossible to read, but whatever emotion he was feeling, it was strong.

" Kyuubi told you ? "

Naruto wasn't famous for his patience, so when the sanin repeated his words again in that trance-like tone, he just couldn't stand the awkward atmosphere anymore and blurted out.

" God, Ero-senin ! That's what I said, isn't it ? Stop asking stupid questuions ! Kyuubi told me Kayuki's the Henkanbi, ok ? What's the big deal ? " he yelled, the mood relaxing in a second.

" Kayuki ? " " Since when do you talk to Kyuubi ? ", asked Ai and Jiraya at the same time.

Naruto resisted the urge to slam his forehead. He let out a huge sigh and responded to both questions.

" Kayuki's apparently its name. Or so says Kyuubi " told Naruto Ai, than turned his head in hi sensei's direction and answered him, too. " And now what ? It's not like we don't live in the same body, so me might as well talk, ne ? "

Ai looked like she was mouthing her Bijuu's name and Jiraya looked worried.

" And since when's that been going on ? " he asked his student.

" Um..." said Naruto. " Don't know. Two months, maybe ? "

" Two months ? " asked Jiraya. " And why didn't you tell me ? "

" For Kami's sake, relax ! It's not like I'll let it control me, anyway. We just mostly tease, that's all. " the blond said, trying to relax his sensei.

" You...tease ? " asked Jiraya, sure he had heard wrong.

Naruto just rolled his eyes.

" Read my lips :-" he said. "-RE-LAX ! "

Jiraya looked like he was sick, but let the matter drop, returning to his story, but shooting suspicious and worried glances at his student now and then.

" Anyhow, there appears to be no information anywhere I've been about this... Henkanbi. " he said, the last word filled with unease.

Silence fell upon the three, who were each contemplating their own thoughts, beliefs and worries.

Ai had leaned on the tree's trunk, spacing out, her hair dancing a little along with the wind, her black eyes unfocused, a hand on her stomach.

Jiraya was, on the other side, eying Naruto suspiciously, worry written all over his face, his white hair moving a bit, too.

And said blond was gazing at the blue patch of sky visible through the canopy above, having leaned back on the grass, his hands under his head.

Jiraya was unsure whether he should be worried, happy or scared. Worried, because Naruto had been talking to Kyuubi and said fox might try and convince him to give up his body and control ? Happy, because maybe Naruto's life would be easier and he would be much more stronger if he befriended the Nine-tailed demon fox and the last one helped him ? Or scared, because maybe Kyuubi was a dangerous, murderous mass of malevolence who had killed thousands of innocent people, attacked the village and was now about to control his jinchuuriki and break free ?

He dismissed his last thought with a slight shake of the head. However dense and stupid, useless and slow-witted, credible and naive Naruto may sometimes be, he wasn't completely idiot. He wouldn't give up so easily. Actually, he never gave up. Wasn't that his motto ? And hasn't he proved a thousand times before that he stuck to what he said and to his beliefs ?

Jiraya breathed in. This might just end up in the favor of the boy. Besides, if anything should go wrong, he was there.

" Ai " he said, breaking the silence and his own thread of thoughts along with the others.

Naruto stood up again and Ai turned her attention to Jiraya, raising her head.

" Yes ? " she asked.

" However incredible the fact that this bloke-" he pointed Naruto with his thumb.

" Hey ! " complained said blond.

"-managed to teach you something, I must admit he really did it well. "

Ai smiled, blushing and Naruto straightened his back, beaming with pride.

" Would you mind using a little chakra so I can see your seal ? "

Ai nodded and got up. She remembered how Naruto's seal was on his stomach, so she folded her T-shirt in order to reveal her belly and she concentrated, all eyes upon her.

She drew a little chakra ad brought it to her hands, than opened her eyes.

She gasped.

A complicated-looking tattoo appeared around her belly. It was black, similar to Naruto's, but the signs seemed a bit different and they swirled a little to the right, like the whole thing's suffered long periods of standing in a powerful wind.

Jiraya came closer, crouching in front of her and studying the weird tattoo, much to the girl's embarrassment.

The swirl design disappeared shortly after it appeared, however, and the sanin got up.

" It's similar to Naruto's. " he said, more to himself than to the other two. " It's maybe a bit stronger, but I recognize it. Hmmm..."

Naruto and Ai glanced at each other, then back at Jiraya.

The white-haired sanin seemed lost in contemplation. He remained silent for a full minute, rubbing his chin absently, then his face brightened and Naruto knew immediately that an idea had sprung to his perverted mind.

" Ah ! " he said, beaming at the two. " Ai, Naruto's been teaching you Henge, 'that right ? " he asked.

" Yes " said the girl in a low, but proud, voice.

" Could you-" asked Jiraya, suddenly softer. "-could you henge into_ it_ ? "

Naruto understood. He glanced at Ai. That _was_ actually not such a bad idea.

Ai looked shocked for a moment, than she shook her head out of her trance and responded :

" Yeah, sure. Why not ? "

She got into position and closed her eyes, but the sanin stopped her.

" No, not here. I reckon it's quite big, isn't it ? We should go back to the field. " he said, touching her shoulder in a parental kind of gesture.

Ai blinked and laughed a little.

" Yeah, sure. That'd be a good idea ! " she said, and they both started walking back towards the field.

Naruto and Jiraya positioned strategically at the edge of the forest, whilst Ai was standing a rather big distance away, at the very middle of the field, her form not half of Naruto's little finger from where they stood.

Both of the boys looked the same to Ai, too. She closed her eyes and clasped her hands together, gathering chakra. She could soon feel her folded hands wrapped in some fluid and warm velvet of energy.

She breathed in, hard, recalling all those times she had seen the demon and thought it was herself. She settled on a single memory of it, and made the dog, boar and tiger seals, releasing chakra.

There was a big poof and half of the field was suddenly covered in white smoke, a sudden wind blowing Jiraya's and Naruto's hair and faces. Naruto put a hand in front of his eyes, sheltering them from the dust.

And then it appeared, as soon as the smoke vanished.

Before them stood a huge, enormous, Kyuubi-sized white cat, with grayish-white shiny eyes, that looked like two little moons, but with the shining force of the sun.

Its fur was a burning snow-white shiny fire, the flames which didn't emanate warmth floating upwards, swirling and twisting soundlessly. The cat had black claws and huge ears, and Jiraya thought it really resembled The Nibi, Nekomata.

But the most interesting thing was the fact that it didn't have a tail.

The cat turned her heads in their direction and as she did so, the burning fire which was its fur exploded on her back and shot upwards, taking the form of a tail.

Naruto gaped and Jiraya gasped.

The tail stood like that for a full minute, than broke into half, each half breaking into two in turn.

The beast had now four tails.

Then a poof of smoke covered her and after it vanished Ai stood where the cat had stood, coughing a little and waving the smoke away.

She pushed chakra to her legs and run at inhuman speed to where th gaping sensei and student were standing, smiling shyly.

" So ? " she asked, hopefulness filling her voice.

The wind blew over the dropped jaws of the two boys.

" Wow " breathed Naruto.

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><p><strong> Thanks for reading ! I feel exhausted, writing a chapter and a half in one day, but at least no one can say I'm lazy now ! ^^<strong>

**Henkan, as my source ( dictionary ) tells me, means, I quote : " change, conversion, transformation ", so I thought it might be a good name for Ai's Bijuu, due to the fact that it changes its number of tails.**

**As to Kayuki...Kae was another word for change, but it went as a second meaning, so it didn't fit ...Kae turned to Ka and I added Yuki...Yuki means snow. It has no other connection to the Bijuu apart from the fact that it's white, like it, but yuki is one of my favorite japanese words so...You can see how twisted my thinking is ...**

**Anyway, thanks again and please ...REVIEW !**

**Next chapter out soon, the story's approaching its end...TuTuTuTUUM ! **


	10. Enter old friend Trouble !

**Hey, 'llo there ! Whazzup ? This is the new chapter, hope you'll love it ^^ * modest chuckle ***

**Enjoy and please ... R-E-V-I-E-W ^_^_^_^ **

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><p>" 'o..."started the blond, his mouth full of noodles. " 'u 'ver 'ed 'o 'alk 'o it ? " he asked, his words impossible to decipher.<p>

" Sorry, what ? " asked a pink-haired girl, with huge green eyes, with a rather big, but beautiful forehead, dressed in a pink kind of dress, a leaf ninja headband holding her hair.

" Just swallow, brat ! The food won't disappear ! " suggested Jiraya, rolling his eyes and taking another mouthful of his sukiyaki ( a japanese dish with beef ).

Naruto shot a glare at his sensei and looked apologetically at his ramen, but fortunately, much to the pink-haired's relief, he followed the piece of advice.

He swallowed the noodles, feeling the immediate need to take more, but resisted.

" Have you ever tried to talk to it ? " asked the young boy again, this time coherent.

The girl turned her eyes in his one's direction and thought a little, not really seeing the blond. She recalled all the times she had talked to Henkanbi.

Any person who would hear their conversation wouldn't bother to listen, thinking that it was an inside thing they didn't and weren't supposed to know.

" Um...I don't think so. No. " she answered after a while, looking suddenly interested in the color of her rice.

" You should. " Naruto announced, playing with the noodles, half thinking about how they would feel in his mouth.

Ai didn't answer, but resumed trying to pick up rice with the tiny sticks she was supposed to eat with. She wasn't used to eating in a restaurant, which was now possible because Naruto and Jiraya had money to pay and because she had learned how to henge, so she wouldn't be recognized. Otherwise...she would still be searching for food in the garbage.

So, yeah. Eating with tiny sticks isn't the most easy job when you've used your hands as spoon, knife and fork your whole life.

" Really " went on Naruto, still staring at his bowl. " Even if it's evil and annoying, it's still there, you know. It's better to talk to it one time. Besides-"he raised his head, looking the replica of his teammate, Sakura Haruno, in the eye. "- It's not like a talk will kill you. You are doomed to live in the same..." he lowered his voice. " ...in the same body forever. Might as well be buddies ! "

" That's what you're trying to do ? " Jiraya popped in, his voice low, his face holding that sick shade.

It's not like he didn't trusted his student, but the idea of befriending a demon who had murdered half of the village you live in made him a little nauseous. But then again, Naruto wasn't the most predictable person. He was, after all, the Number One Hyperactive Unpredictable Knucklehead Ninja. One didn't know how his mind worked.

" Um...well...not really...I mean " the boy answered. " Ai-I mean _Sakura_'s ...' friend ' could be good, ne ? Besides, maybe I can make Kyuu-I mean ...um...Kyuunoka a better person "

The sanin looked unconvinced.

" Come on ! " Naruto hissed, leaning forward towards his sensei. " Trust me ! I won't do anything stupid. I know it's bad. That's kind of in the definition. I just thought that since we're roommates we might as well be on acceptable terms with each other ! That's all ! "

The blond attacked the ramen in front of him, poking it with the sticks and pushing it into his mouth as though the noodles were the worst enemy in the world.

Jiraya didn't look particulary reassured, but let the matter drop again. Maybe Naruto knew better. After all, he was the jinchuuriki.

Jiraya ate the last of his meal and got up, handing a few banknotes to his blond student.

" Ok ! I'm gonna go...researching a little ! " he said, looking serious.

Ai nodded, her pink hair brushing her cheeks.

Naruto, on the other side, looked outraged. He jumped to hiss feet and pointed a very accusing index finger at his sensei, yelling.

" RESEARH ? YOU PERVERTED OLD MAN ! HAVEN'T YOU ' RESEARCHED ' ENOUGH ? "

But Jiraya had vanished. Apparently, he had used a teleportation technique.

" Old, stupid, perverted Ero-senin ... " Naruto mumbled, sitting down audibly.

" What ? " he yelled to the world-which was actually everyone in the restaurant who had curiously turned their heads in the direction of the sound.

Every head jerked back, turning its gaze away.

Naruto mumbled something to himself and wolfed down the rest of the ramen. Ai just gazed at him, a smile on her face.

She let the sticks onto the table. She just couldn't eat with those. In fact, she wasn't that hungry anymore.

" Let's get outta here " grumbled Naruto, raising, still a little upset.

He let the money on the table and walked out of the restaurant, Ai following close behind.

He had been really grumpy lately. Maybe it was because Kyuubi was all that gloomy and whenever he tried to talk to it he only got short, annoyed answers or growls ? But why should that affect him, anyway ? It wasn't like they were best buddies, damn, they weren't even friends. Than why, why did he feel so unhappy if the demon had decided to ignore him ?

" You ok ? " Ai's voice ripped his thread of thoughts, soft and kind.

He turned his head to look at her. She looked exactly like Sakura : Her pink beautiful hair danced around her face along with the wind, he cheeks held the same vague pretty blush, her big, emerald eyes gleamed in the light of the street lamps and still...there was something more kind, more beautiful and pure about her. Naruto wished Sakura would be like this.

But this was not Sakura. She was Ai. End of story.

" Um...yeah, why wouldn't I be ok ? " he asked, rubbing the back of his neck, his golden hair swirling and his blue eyes sparkling a little sad.

Ai examined him a little suspicious and Naruto knew she didn't believe a word. But then she turned her eyes onto the road ahead, onto the dark street, lightened only by patches of yellow light which spread before every single street lamp, like carpets made of gold.

He looked at the road, too. He didn't feel like going back to the hotel room, but his feet seemed to move on their own accord.

Soon they reached the hotel and entered. The receptionist eyed the pink-haired Ai curiously, than glanced at Naruto and gave him the thumbs up, grinning evilly.

The blond blushed and smiled back. He couldn't help thinking that that guy saw them and thought they were together. But then again, this wasn't exactly Sakura.

Ai entered the room first and the blond shinobi locked the door.

A poof could be heard behind him and when he turned around he was relieved to see that Ai was standing on one of the beds. She looked so much more delicate like Sakura. She looked...real. Beautiful. Sakura looked like a product of one's imagination right now. He shook his head.

He gave to enter the bathroom, aiming for a hot shower, but Ai's voice stopped him.

" Naruto..."

" Yeah ? " he asked, not turning around, but waiting in the door way.

" Does this Sakura person mean anything...special to you ? " she asked in a low voice and the blond slowly turned and looked at her.

She bit her lip and raised her eyes, so as to meet his.

" I mean,...you looked uncomfortable when I was her. " she explained.

Naruto thought for a second of what he should say, then answered.

" Yeah, it's...she's my teammate " he said.

" But you like her . " Ai said. It wasn't a question.

It was Naruto's turn to bite his lower lip, something he had never done before.

" Yeah " he finally breathed. " I like her. "

There was an awkward silence for a few second, after Naruto finally decided to enter the bathroom.

" I could Henge into someone else if..." she called from the bedroom.

" Nah " said Naruto, popping his head out of the door frame and blinking, showing her one of his famous fox grins. " 's ok ! "

* * *

><p>Ai dreamed flames that night. White, swirling flames that didn't make a sound as they rose and fell, rose and fell in a weird kind of dance. It was hypnotizing, watching the flames dance. They were everywhere in her head, in every corner of her mind.<p>

They weren't cold, but they weren't hot. They weren't there, but they somehow were.

The girl opened her eyes slowly. It was the dark ceiling she saw above her.

It was still night.

She looked round the room. She could only see shadows, darker and grayer, which were interrupted before the window by a thin layer of silvery dust.

The moon must've been causing that.

She glanced at the bed beside her and gasped. The bed was empty.

That's when she noticed the window was opened too and that a chilly breeze filled the room.

She got up, thinking where Naruto could possibly be at that hour of the night. She poked her head out the window.

The streets below were as empty as they could be, covered in hallow shadows and thin layers of silver dust, similar to the one in her room, here and there.

" Naruto likes training ..." she murmured to herself, gazing at the silver sun hanging on the sky outside.

As she recalled Naruto's previous lack of mood-something that was highly unusual-her presumption that the blond must be training gained much more sense.

She didn't bother to use the door. She just gathered chakra to her feet and jumped on the rooftop of the building across, then on the following rooftop and so on.

She could feel the breeze stroking her face gently.

The houses fell behind her as she ran, eyes ahead, not a single look back, to the grassy field she had been training in.

As her form grew smaller and smaller, bending into the landscape, behind an old reddish building, its bricks shattered here and missing there, a dark silhouette emerged, gazing at the retreating shadow of the demon-girl.

A hallow small chuckle filled the night Ai had left behind. The man smiled.

* * *

><p>She arrived at the field near the forest. It looked like a dark sea stretching to the trees of the woods. The moon seemed brighter here, covering the whole area in its light.<p>

She could see almost as good as at daytime.

She scanned the shadowy sea of grass. On the other side of it, a small dark form could be seen moving round a tree.

'_ That should be him_ ', she thought.

She pushed more chakra to her feet and made a colossal jump, landing with a rather strong bang right next to the blond.

Naruto didn't even as much as stirred. He just continued to punch and kick the tree ahead him, enlarging the wide crater he had done there without the use of Rasengan.

Sweat was running down his forehead as he gritted his teeth, giving the innocent tree an ultimate punch.

A loud cracking sound shot through the starless night. Naruto's fist had emerged through the tree trunk, the blond panting slightly.

He pulled back his now bleeding at the knuckles hand. As he did so, the tree seemed to tremble for a moment, before it cracked with a sickening sound and bent over, falling behind Naruto.

As the dust dissipated, the night fell silent.

Naruto turned round and gazed at Ai, who was still dressed in the new pyjamas said blond had given her.

She stared back in silence for a few seconds.

" You sure you're ok ? " she asked in a low, soft voice.

Naruto laughed, a hallow laugh and then his face fell. He collapsed to the ground and Ai sat silently next to him.

" No. No I'm not " he sighed.

" What's wrong ? " asked the girl after a moment.

The young shinobi looked at the ground, thinking the question over yet again.

His hair was dull again, but seemed covered too in a silvery dust. His eyes were covered by a shadow as he held his head bent down and his blue pandantiv shimmered in the moonlight.

" I don't know " he finally admitted. " I really don't know... "

He met Ai's dark eyes with his sparkling blue ones. Only they seemed to hold a rather dim light now.

" I think it's Kyuubi. It seems...upset. " he said, lowering his gaze. " But I don't know why that should bother me." he mumbled.

The girl considered his answer.

" There were times when I was sadder than other, with no apparent reason. " she said, after a rather rigid silence. " Now, I think it's because of it...because of the demon. "

She raised her onyx eyes and he raised his sapphire ones. Their gazes met : Naruto's tormented and Ai's kind and understanding.

She smiled.

Naruto felt like a heavy burden just lifted off his chest. It was good to know someone understood you exactly, knew how you felt and got the meaning of little things that seemed bigger and more important in your eyes.

Now more than ever, he felt he was the one who had just learned about his condition and Ai the one who's lived her almost whole life knowing she was who she was.

A few moments the sat there, in a companionable silence, staring at the moon which seemed to be a hole in the velvet sky from which silvery light flooded over the earth below.

" How nice ! Enjoying the night, aren't you two little brats ? " a voice whispered from behind them.

For a split second Naruto thought it was Jiraya, then the evil, disgusted tone in the words hit him.

He jumped to his feet and turned around, in a defending position.

Ai followed a brief second behind him. Her face palled as the unknown man stepped into the moonlight.

" Well, well, well...nice to see you again...little demon ! "

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><p><strong>Who is this mysterious man ? And what does he want from our heroes ? ...Damn ! It's like I'm one of those movie trailer voices * chuckle *<strong>

**Now, really. Tune in to see what happens next ! **

**Thanks for reading ! **

**P.S. : Press the button below if you like ice-cream !** **:P**

**See ya soon ! * disappearing in a poof of bluish smoke ... * **


	11. The fight

**Hey yo guys ! I know I've been a lazy bitch for updating soooooooo late ! **

**Sorry ! I really am very very sorry ! Pleeeease forgive meeee ! * falling to knees and crying ***

**I'm not making up any excuses of any sort, but I really was away this time and had no computer ! **

**I'm REALLY SO EXTREMELY SORRY ! REALLY ! **

**Please enjoy and don't hate me... yet ! ^_^ **

* * *

><p>The man had black,curly hair and two eyes so dark you could've been staring into the depth of a bottomless well.<p>

Shadow casted by a passing, unknown cloud engulfed the forty year old man and the two teenagers, who both stood in defensive positions in front of the last one, a blond, golden haired boy, with blue sparkling eyes, a feet ahead the girl, a pale-faced, onyx-eyed beauty with a weird, but at the same time amazing haircut.

" Who the hell are you ? " spitted Naruto with a long since used level of contempt, usually reserved for a certain snake-sanin.

The man chuckled, a sound that made the hairs on your skin lift.

" Well, well, well...Aren't we insolent little blokes, ne ? " he asked, sounding like a tiger playing with its prey.

Naruto just stared and let out a small, but frightening growl. However, the man didn't seem disturbed even in the slightest, but even started shaking his head, feigning disappointment with such visible pleasure it made the blond's shinobi stomach revolt.

" I guess I'll forgive you this time. " he said, then put the joke aside and looked Naruto in the eye, blood lust in his eyes. " Now step aside, brat ! I've no business with ya. Just walk away and leave the demon " he said, spitting out the last word.

Naruto intended to say something completely different, but in his effort of trying to separate his growing rage from the eternal fox's one and hold them separated, he just went down to business.

" She...is not ...a demon . " he hissed. " And she stays with me. "

The man's face darkened. It appeared the blond was in with the girl's condition.

" I mean it kiddo. Last chance. We can do this the easy way..." he started, than his face turned into a really frightening grin . "...or we can do it the hard way. "

Naruto's own face erupted into a huge, fox-like, evil grin, which was not entirely his own, his white canines seeming more dangerous. Something which had nothing to do with Kyuubi.

" Well,... I guess it's the hard way, then . "

And then it began.

In just a split of second, the forest seemed to suddenly have been filled entirely with people.

The man had snapped his fingers and that moment a dozen other gorillas emerged out of the shadows of the trees.

Naruto crossed his index and middle fingers of his right hand with the ones on his left and yelled something inaudible over the noise that was shooting through the forest and the next brief of second there appeared, apparently out of thin air and with various poofs of smoke, a few dozen blond shinobis, all grinning madly.

There was another split second of studying the enemy before the battle started with a roar, sound of poofing and yelling renting the air.

Naruto couldn't see well, could barely hear, his nostrils were suddenly filled with smoke and he was being pushed back and forth by his own clones, but managed to grab Ai's wrist, who had petrified on the spot, white like marble, and held it tight.

He let his years as a shinobi guide him through the stream of Narutos and unknown enemies, pushing here and stabbing there, his kunai already covered in blood.

As he approached the end of the sea of people and felt half of his clones' sudden absence, another slim man in his thirties, holding a kind of farm tool Naruto couldn't quite identify, jumped out of nowhere in front of him.

The man roared something from which the blond shinobi could understand only " real one " and " 'emon " and launched, very sharp farm thingy first, at them.

Naruto dodged easily, but earned himself a scratch on his right shoulder while trying to push Ai out of the way, too.

He kicked the man who had attacked them, using his own force against him and made another dozen clones, this time henging half of them into Ai.

The idea just came on its own and he barely had time to congratulate himself when another tree guys, this time holding kunais and showing some sort of taijutsu skill jumped at him.

Naruto dodged one, two, three kunais directed at him, but the forth impaled into the back of his left shoulder. He let out a scowl and a curse, then reached for the kunai, took it out of the blood-dripping wound and made another hand sign.

Three other clones appeared behind him.

He moved quickly and a ear-deafening bang filled the next seconds' air.

The three man had only seen Naruto forming a Rasengan, dismissing clones and then charging. They had dodged but a roar from behind had made them look back and all they saw was a glint of yellow hair above a sparkling, swirling ball of blue energy.

The noise faded along with the rising dust.

Naruto landed into a wide brown fog and awaited, cursing under his breath.

He had Rasenganed the place in a moment of madness. What if Ai got hit by the wave ? He growled. Why did he always have to act without thinking.

The dust slowly rose and the blond found himself standing in a huge crater, lighted by the moon's silvery, unchanged light.

All over the big hole in the ground stood broken tree trunks and branches. But that wasn't all.

About half of the unknown man had been caught in the blast. The tree who had been closest now lied close to the core of the crater, their bodies burnt and bloody. The others were further away and held minor wounds and another wave had just been shaken a little.

The ones who hadn't been caught in the blast were long since gone.

After all, it had only been a low-powered Rasengan.

The victims at the edge of the crater started stirring. One looked around and let out a scared yelp, then stumbled to his feet and, after a horrified glance at the blond shinobi who had produced said crater, ran for dear life.

Naruto turned his head madly around, but none of the victims of his Rasengan was Ai.

Unfortunately, neither was the man who had seemed to be in charge.

The blond let out another curse slip from his lips, before choosing one of the men who was stirring, starting to regain himself and hurried to him.

The man let out a yelp and paled, his bloody gush on the side of his face standing out more and more.

Naruto took him by the collar and lifted him to his eye level.

Blue ice eyes connected with desperate brown ones, the last one's pupils dilated with fear.

" You " Naruto growled, making himself sound frightening. " You are going to the hospital and tell them it's been an accident. "

" A-accident ? " stuttered the man, trembling from head to toe.

" Yes. Accident. Show them the place and make up something. "

And he trust him to thw ground with force, shooting him a last dreadful look.

" And if I find out you'd fleet... " he added, then turned around and whispered over his shoulder, in a manner so scary the man immediately got to his feet and made a run for the local hospital. " ... I'll find you. "

The blond pushed chakra to hiss feet and climbed the closest and tallest tree he found.

He reached the top and looked around. The crater seemed smaller from up there. He counted the men. There were only five left in the crater, most of them lying face down in the dirt.

But no sign of Ai or the black-haired man from before.

He jumped and landed perfectly. He would have to search the woods, but there was no time.

The whole place was covered in a thick darkness as a cloud covered the silvery moon, bringing with it a chilly breeze.

An idea sprung to Naruto's head. He closed his eyes and shut out everything : all the sounds, the rustling of the leaves, the hoarse whimpers of the wounded men, the chill running through his naked arms, the stinking pain in his back.

And waited, searched. He was so focused he could even feel the tiny chakras of the civilians lied onto the ground.

He let his senses dig deeper into the forest, searching for anything.

And then he felt it. But it wasn't what he wanted. It was a rather dark, strong chakra, but not a ninja's, for it wasn't that much of it. But it was running through the woods.

Naruto considered. It must've been the unknown man's chakra. Naruto's heart skipped a beat.

He searched the trail of chakra the man was leaving behind, coming back the way he went.

And then he felt it. A tiny, tiny chakra. A small, extremely weak flame that, if Naruto didn't know better, he could've mistaken it for a bird's.

* * *

><p>One of the men in the crater opened his eyes.<p>

He felt a throbbing pain in his left leg and right shoulder and saw they were covered in blood. His own blood.

He tried to rise, but fell straight down, back to the cold ground. He could only hope some help would come, eventually.

He looked ahead, at the trees untouched by the blast and he saw the blond kiddo who had produced whatever made the crater. Fear tugged at his heart, but the kid wasn't moving. He was standing straight, not even breathing. And then, faster than the eye could see, he shot his eyes open and just vanished behind the trees, in a mad rush.

Some of the fear dissipated, but some more replaced it.

How long would he lay there ? Was he going to die ?

He pictured the round face of his boy, his sparkling blue eyes not different from the blond ninja's ones...

Sound of footsteps clicked something in his brain and he opened his eyes once more, just in time to see people dressed in white stumbling into the crater. Medics. He closed his eyes and drifted into darkness once more. He was saved.

* * *

><p>Naruto flew through the trees at lightining speed, his heart punding in his chest. He grunted and gritted his teeth, guilt, frustration and fear tugging at his heart. How could he let Ai's wrist go ? How he could Rasengan the place without thinking he might hit her accidentally ? He didn't, but that was not important.<p>

He was afraid. Afraid of what he might see, because Ai's chakra seemed to fell smaller and smaller with every jump he took from one branch to another, darkness swallowing him whole.

He suddenly felt a small chakra very close and came to a very sudden halt, turning around and taking a few steps back.

There was something on the ground.

He approached just when the moonlight slipped through a hole in the canopy above, free from the now distant cloud.

The blond fell to his knees and reached a shaking hand to touch Ai's arm. She flinched.

Naruto gritted his teeth so hard they screeched.

Ai's hair was heavy and thick with blood, her face covered entirely in bloody bruises and gashes, as well as her whole form.

She seemed to have both arms and a leg broken, but it was hard to tell.

She stood there, her form seeming smaller and smaller with each second that passed by, the pool of red liquid in which she lied widening.

He couldn't even move her in that state. He had to do something. Anything !

In desperation, he bit his right thumb and slammed the ground so hard he made a little crater shaped in the form of his hand there.

A second later, a poof of smoke revealed a human-sized frog, who looked too happy for the scene.

" Yo, whazzup Naruto ? " asked the frog, but then saw Naruto's madly desperate face and the dying girl on the ground.

" Oh,... What the ...-"

" Bring me Ero-senin right now ! " Naruto shouted then, seeing the frog unmoved, added. " PLEASE ! "

" I'm on it, kiddo ! " said the frog, then disappeared.

Naruto resumed staring at the girl, thinking he could heal her with his stare, willing her to get better.

He pressed his face in his hands and muffled his scream, then started punching the ground, enlarging the crater he had made summoning Gamaichi.

After a minute that seemed like years, the frog appeared in another poof of smoke, this time with Jiraya at his side.

" ' luck Naruto ! " he called, then disappeared again.

" I hope it's important, because I was about to-" the sanin started, but was cut by Naruto.

" HELP HER ! "

It took the white-haired shinobi a second to realise what was going on.

Then his face darkened and he lowered to where the girl lied, his blond student a few feet away, watching closely.

Jiraya gathered chakra to his index and middle finger, making them glow blue.

He gently touched the girl's forehead and she immediately seemed to relax.

Naruto blinked.

" Whaddid you do ? " the blond asked in a low whisper, afraid he might cause Ai damage if he spoke too loud.

" She's asleep " the blond's sensei answered in a similar whisper, then lifted Ai off the ground.

" Hey, what 'r you-"

" Meet me at the local hospital . " was all Naruto got, before Jiraya poofed with Ai in his arms and another cloud covered the moon.

Naruto felt tears rolling over his cheeks as he sunk into the darkness of the forest once more.

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><p><strong>Thanks for reading even though I'm a crazy little lazy bitch ^^<strong>

**Next chapter out sooner than this one, that's a promise ! **

**Huuuuuuuugs for all of you who had read this ! Damn, even for the ones who haven't ! **

**See you sooner than you think ! LOVE YA ALL !**

**P.S.: Thank you Xamd for constantly reviewing this ! * sends a kiss * **

**Byez ! **


	12. Shocking discovery

**Hey all ! * HUGS * I missed you guys a lot ! Did you miss me ? **

**I got back from the beautiful trip to Spain ! I hope you don't hate me for making you wait so long ! **

**Anyway, I'm here now ! **

**Sorry again, a million sorry's for making you wait and I hope you'll enjoy this chapter ! ^^**

* * *

><p>As he was holding her half-bandaged, battered, fragile hand, he realised it.<p>

He had to help her. He had to save her.

The tips of his blond locks were covering his blue, sad eyes, which didn't sparkle anymore. The sunlight crept through the blinds- a frozen layer of dim yellow glow which hung in mid-air and hit the left side of Naruto's tanned face.

The blond's eyes were gazing down at the bandaged hand he was holding in his own, all light in his blue depths gone.

The clean, sterile white bandage started right above the knuckles and stretched onto the wrist and elbow of the person lying in the hospital bed, disappearing under the blue material of a hospital robe.

The boy's gaze moved, following the track of the bandages, then climbing up the bluish material which covered a slowly rising and falling chest, onto which a few brown locks spread in all directions. The gaze of the boy swam upwards on the silky hair of the girl, finally resting onto a face.

Both of Ai's eyes were closed, one underneath another white bandage and the other covered in a thin, purple layer, which resembled eye shade. On her left cheek stood, standing out in comparison with the white, pale skin of the girl, a skin-colored plaster.

The girl's lips were cracked and her chin shadowed a purple neck, different shades of deeper and lighter purple popping here and there.

'** Don't blame yourself, kiddo. It wasn't your faul**t. '

Naruto flinched a little, startled. He hadn't heard the fox's voice in a while.

But he wasn't nor happy, nor sad. He only new anger and blame at the moment.

' _Like you know ! And anyway, what do you care ?_ ' croaked Naruto in his mind.

The young shinobi felt the fox's shock and saddened retreat into its cage and a powerful wave of sadness splashed over him.

It wasn't like the fox and him were friends, but they had shared their fine, nice moments. He had thought, even if he didn't want to admit it, that it was the beginning of a friendship. So he couldn't help feeling betrayed when the fox had seemed to abandon him. But now it was back. It was there, in that tough moment, trying to comfort him and here he was, pushing it all away.

That was all he did. Ruin things. He ruined a friendship even before it started. He ruined someone's happiness, someone's health. Ai's health.

In the state Naruto was in, he didn't realise where the track of his own thoughts lead him to before it was too late. And so, old failures came kicking and screaming back, more alive and real than the present, topping over the new ones.

Sasuke. His promise to Sakura.

He could've been there. He could've helped Sasuke. He could've _saved_ Sasuke.

He could've been there. He could've helped Ai. He could've _saved_ Ai.

He could've done more. He could've fulfilled his promise. He could've said something nice to Kyuubi.

Ai's left hand covered the distance between it and the hospital bed, falling with a soft thud as Naruto's hand disappeared.

The boy lowered his head and covered the sides of it with his hands, pressing and gripping his shiny golden hair with so much strength it whitened his knuckles and hurt.

But he wanted to be hurt. He deserved to be hurt.

A tear somehow slipped through his shut eyelids and rolled down his cheek, falling into his lap.

Naruto's grip relaxed as he opened his watery, bloodshot blue eyes and stared at the wet circle it left on his pants.

Suddenly, a hot delicious scent was brought to his nose. He lifted his head.

Jiraya was standing in front of him, a composed look on his face and a mug of hot tea in his outstretched hand.

" Figured you'd need this " he said, in a soft tone.

Naruto stared blankly at the mug from which steam swirled upwards in a crazy dance. For a moment, he thought of refusing, throwing the mug into his face and running away, somewhere far where he could cry and hide. But he redirected his thoughts. And anger. After all, Jiraya did him no harm. He had actually helped him. If it hadn't been for him...

Naruto sighed and took the mug, bringing it to his lips and taking a sip from the hot drink.

The liquid slipped easily down his throat, leaving a pleasant, warm trail which made his body request more of it.

Jiraya pulled a chair from somewhere around and sat next to his student, another hot, steaming mug in his own hands.

" It wasn't your fault you kno-"he started, but was cut off by Naruto, who finally seemed to snap.

" DAMMIT ! WHY THE HELL DO YOU ALL SAY THAT ? I WAS _THERE_ ! I COULD'VE SAVED HER ! I COULD'VE DAMN _PREVENTED_ THIS ! "

The mug fell onto the floor and cracked, a million pieces of broken porcelain spreading under the bed on which Ai lied, unmoved. Naruto had his head in his hands again and his voice broke down.

" I could've saved her ... "

" Naruto... " called Jiraya.

No answer.

" Naruto . "

Silence.

" Naruto ! " the white-haired sanin tapped his student softly onto the back.

" If it wasn't for you she'd be dead. " he whispered.

Naruto raised his head and locked his filled-with-guilt eyes with the worried sanin's ones.

He opened his mouth, but whatever he had wanted to say was quickly forgotten by the sole sound of a soft moan.

Both heads turned in the direction of the girl, which was now stirring under the blankets.

Ai's eyelids trembled. She could hear distant sounds that resembled breathing and a continuous beeping that remembered her of the hospital.

Curiosity made her decide to open her eyes.

The light blue of the summer sky greeted her dizzied gaze.

Why on Earth was it day ? She could swear the last time she had been awake it was night.

However, when her vision cleared, the sky separated in two, then took the shape of two blue, deep orbs. Worry and hope was written in those blue circles.

She gasped. Eyes. Those were eyes.

As soon as she realised this, she became aware of the tips of yellow locks tickling her cheeks and forehead and tanned skin connecting the two mysterious blue eyes.

" Naruto ? " she asked in a very low whisper that came out hoarse.

Her throat hurt and requested water, but she didn't have time to dwell on that, because soon enough a heavy weight and two arms crushed her in a breath-taking hug.

" You're awake ! " yelled a certain blond.

" Na... ru... to... ! " breathed Ai the last air in her lungs.

She tried to push Naruto a bit, but she felt too weak.

" Gaki, get off her ! You'll suffocate her ! " laughed Jiraya from behind, tapping Naruto on the back.

The blond immediately let go, blushing and grinning nervously. Ai breathed relieved.

Naruto stared at the girl, beaming. His gaze was so desperately fixed onto Ai, it looked like if he lost sight of her for only a moment he would die. He was holding onto the image like lifelines.

Then Ai coughed.

The white-haired sanin bent and tapped her slowly on the back, while Naruto's face lost its glow again, guilt returning to the corners of his heart.

" I'm gonna go call a nurse. " said Jiraya and raised. " And get a glass of water " he added, exiting the room.

Naruto and Ai were left into an awkward silence, the only sound being the constant beeping, which was doing a lousy job loosening up the atmosphere.

" I'm sorry " " Thanks " said Naruto and Ai at the same time, their gazes down.

Both raised their heads and locked eyes.

" What are you thanking me for ? " asked Naruto, feeling sick.

" Why are you apologizing ? " retorted Ai.

Naruto bit his lower lip and looked away.

" It's my fault you ended up like this. " he whispered.

" It's your fault I'm alive " corrected Ai, her voice still hoarse.

Her throat hurt when she spoke, feeling like someone stuck a thousand tiny needles in there, but she had to sort things out and make Naruto understand it wasn't his fault, although the moment she opened her mouth to speak it transpired her efforts were pointless at the moment.

" Don't " said Naruto, cutting off her to-be complaints. " It's my fault. Period. "

Ai glanced speechless into the depths that seemed to stubbornly glow, ready to fight back if provoked, and she realised she had absolutely, but absolutely no chance at the moment to change his mind.

She sighed and changed the subject, regardless of the dizziness and pain, feeling it would make her blond companion feel better.

" How...how did they let you... " she closed her eyes so as to avoid his gaze.

" Let me what ? " he asked.

A short break filled the next few seconds.

" ... let you... let me in " she finally finished, in such a low voice only his years as a shinobi could've made Naruto hear her.

Naruto actually grinned hallow.

" Let's just say Ero-senin can be very convincing when he wants to. "

Ai opened her eyes and stared at the white ceiling, trying to imagine how the white-haired sanin could look even scary.

But he was nice to her all the time, how could she know. After all, wasn't _she_ the one who had been afraid of him at first ?

She closed her eyes again, blocking the beeping out and focusing on Naruto's steady breath.

Before him, she had been terrified at the thought of approaching the hospital at more than one kilometer. But now, with the blond by her side, she felt safe.

The two ninja have done so much for her ! How could she ever repay them, thank them enough for their kindness ?

" Hey... " broke Naruto the silence, cutting off Ai's thread of thoughts. She felt sleepy and weak, buit she let out a sound of agreement leave her lips.

" That man...the one who..." started Naruto, letting the sentence hang. It didn't need and end, for Ai's weak muscled already responded. Her breath fastened a bit, but she did her best to hide it.

" ... he ... did this before, didn't he ? " asked Naruto, raising his gaze.

Ai stared blankly at the ceiling and nodded, a knot in her throat.

" Where does he live ? " asked the blond in a low, scary hiss.

Ai felt confused for a moment, then her heartbeat fastened too when she realised what Naruto was trying to do.

" N-no ! " croaked Ai and raised her head a bit, trying to lock gazes with the blond, but it fell back. Her head hurt.

She closed her eyes shut.

" Y-you can't hurt him. L-let him. It's not his f-fault " she stuttered.

" Why ? Why let him ? " asked Naruto.

" He didn't let you . " he murmured, more to himself than to Ai.

" Because..." Ai said, then saw that she had no option left but...

" Because he's my father..." she whispered, half hoping Naruto didn't hear.

But the way the temperature in the room seemed to drop ten degrees, she was sure he had heard.

Jiraya entered the room, holding a glass of cool water in his hands.

" I brought water ! " he happily announced, but his smile faded when he felt the tension in the room.

" What's wrong ? " He asked.

The blond raised his head and locked a pair of blue, wide with shock eyes at his sensei, in his head echoing the words of the girl.

'_ He's my father... father... father..._ '

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><p><strong>Thanks a lot for reading my silly work and please press the nice button below ! :D It'll only take a moment ! <strong>

*** sends kiss * Thank you ! ^^ ^^ ^^ **


	13. Taking matters in his hands

** Hey you all ! I'm really, really, extremely sorry I haven't updated in ages, but the damn school's been keeping me busy ! It was supposed to start easy and clean, but the truth is that it was like a punch in the stomach ! **

**I really had no time and I really am sorryyyyy ! Please forgive me ! Onegai shimasu ! * puppy eyes * **

**I even lost the darn anime convention which it's only once a year because of the school so pleaseee have mercy !**

**Anyhow, hope you guys don't hate me and still read this. Even if you don't, I'll still send you hugs... so * HUGS ***

**Oh, and my special apologies for those who'd been awaiting for the next chapter week after week in vain. I know how that feels and I really regret it. **

**Enjoy ! **

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><p>The cold air of the night wheezed past him as he jumped from one rooftop to another, his gaze serious and dark.<p>

His blue depths seemed to be frozen, filled with the dark ice of a starless, moonless night.

His blond locks swayed in the wind, but even those looked dangerous.

Every cell in his body emitted this dark aura that surrounded him.

Naruto blinked, in the split of second in which the world turned dark remembering what had happened fifteen minutes ago.

* * *

><p><em>The white-haired sanin was walking as slow as he could on the hospital corridor, trying not to spill the water in the glass.<em>

_" Damn these stupid nurses..." he muttered, cursing under his breath. _

_" ' I'm not going in there ! Me neither ! ' " he imitated the nurses from before, in a high-pitched voice. " ' Of course not, I wouldn't put you in sooo much danger ! Imagine what a stupid bloke and a dying girl could do to you ! '... Spineless idiots ! " _

_The sanin finally reached the door and opened it with one hand, careful not to waste any water. _

_" I brought water ! " he said, in a cheerful tone. _

_However, when he opened his eyes, he knew something was wrong. Naruto raised his head, staring at him with an empty, shocked look on his face and Ai was staring in her turn at said blond, her eyes full of worry. _

_" What happened ? " asked the white-haired sanin, eying both kids suspiciously. _

_Naruto was still staring blankly at him, looking like the sanin had always thought he had looked when he found out he had the Nine-tailed fox sealed inside him. _

_" Naruto ? " he asked, a cautious shade in his tone. _

_Naruto blinked, shook his head a little, like he'd just woken up, and plastered his usual fox-like grin on his face. _

_" Ero-senin ! " he yelled in his usual manner, like he'd just noticed his sensei entering the room. " What took you so long ? " he whined._

_The blond's sensei studied his face a little, but gave up soon enough. The boy had lived his whole life in a village which hated, taunted and tormented him and had walked every damn minute of his every day with that stupid, carefree grin plastered onto his face. If he lied to him - which he suspected was the case - he didn't stand a chance. The blond was a brilliant liar. _

_The old ninja sighed and gave the water to Ai, who sipped a little then lay back, closing her eyes. _

_" You should get some sleep. " the sanin told her. _

_Ai didn't answer. _

_Jiraya laid the glass onto the night table next to the girl's bed and sat down on his chair, across from his student, studying his fingers. _

_" Promise me you won't. " Ai suddenly whispered. _

_The sanin raised an eyebrow. She wasn't talking to him. _

_He turned his gaze in Naruto's direction, whose face was impossible to read. _

_A few long minutes the only sound in the room was the constant beeping of the machine to which Ai was connected. _

_" I promise. " the blond finally sighed. _

_" Thank you. " murmured Ai, before falling into a well-needed sleep._

_Naruto just stared emptily ahead for a while, then rose and excused himself. _

_" I gotta go think. " he said. _

_The white-haired ninja nodded, not sure where all these lead to, but certain he would find out soon enough. _

* * *

><p>Naruto opened his blue eyes, in which a sudden determination ignited like a fire.<p>

He came to a sudden halt, then jumped from the rooftop right into the street.

Brown dust rose all around him, but the ninja didn't even blink. He straightened his back and walked on the poor-lit alley, his feet making no sound as they connected with the ground.

After a few minutes of walking, he heard voices and laughter coming from a side-alleyway on his left.

He considered his options, then jumped back on the roof and walked along the length of the alley.

Finally, he saw the tops of seven or eight boys, each of them with a sake bottle in their hands, laughing at some unknown joke.

The blond crouched, touching the gutter of the roof.

He narrowed his eyes.

' _The soberest or the drunkest... ?_ ' he wondered.

Sighing, he pushed a little chakra to the outside, surrounding his body in it and jumped.

* * *

><p>The youngest one, a brown-haired bloke in his twenties took yet another sip of sake, even though the world was spinning around him.<p>

Then he started laughing, even if none of his companions ever said a joke. He just felt like laughing.

And then it happened.

Out of the blue, an orange form landed in the middle of their group, rising the dust on the ground.

The brown-haired teen rubbed his eyes, coughing and cursing as the sake bottle in his hands hit the ground and shattered to pieces.

When the dust rose his eyes widened. But he only got the chance to shoot a single glance at the image of all his friends unconscious on the ground before something grabbed him by the collar and slammed his back onto the wall behind him.

Two ice-blue orbs blocked his vision.

The air around him seemed suddenly tenser and it probably was the alcohol, but he could swear he saw a red gleam in the depths of those steel eyes.

He swallowed hard, feeling his heart racing.

" Where does the father of the demon-girl live ? " the eyes hissed, a hiss so terrifying that he could feel his blood freezing in his veins.

He opened and closed his mouth a few times, trying to get any sound to come out.

" A-a-a-a-a " he stuttered. " A-at t-t-t-the eastern b-border of th-he t-t-town. "

* * *

><p>Naruto looked one more time at the shaking brown-haired guy, then send him to sleep with a low-powered punch banged onto his head.<p>

He let the guy fall on the ground, then looked round at all the people he had knocked out. They would all wake up with a bad headache and probably think it had all been due to the alcohol they had consumed.

The blond sighed and jumped again on the rooftop, pushing as much chakra as he could to his feet and running at the speed of light towards the eastern border of the small town.

The air wheezed past him so fast it hurt, but Naruto kept going.

Finally, he came to a halt in front of a house, which was situated far away from the town.

It was big, with one floor and a small attic, entirely made of wooden, white curtains at every window and two flower vases at each side of the entrance.

Laughter could be heard from inside and the curtains made of thin material didn't hide the warm light.

Naruto balled his hands in fists. He started walking slowly towards the door.

Five steps...four...three...two...one...

He reached out a fist to knock on the door, but paused when a familiar voice rang in his head.

' **Just remember you promised the girl you won't hurt them.** ' said Kyuubi, his tone neither accusing, nor threatening. He sounded like he was on Naruto's side.

And, for the first time, Naruto accepted this fact.

' _I know._ ' he answered. '_ Who said I'm gonna hurt them ?_ '

Then he let his knuckles connect with the door.

Heavy footsteps could be heard approaching the door.

The lock opened with a click and the door cracked open.

" Who is it ? " asked the dark-haired man, then his eyes widened in shock and tried to close the door as he recognized the blond on the other side of it.

But Naruto's hand prevented that from happening.

Ice-blue orbs connected with dark, frightened depths.

" I'm here to talk about your daughter. " hissed the blond, the cold breeze of the night taking the echo of his words on a long ride.

* * *

><p><strong>Thank you for reading ! * bowing * I know it's not much but I can not write more as I am exhausted and have a math test tomorrow. <strong>

**Hope again you don't hate me and sorry again. **

**I will try updating ASAP ! I shall do my best and I shall vow that on my honor as a rookie fan fiction writer, even if I shall be mistaken for Lee ! * blinding teeth smile * * right thumb up * **

** Thank you and please revieeeeeeew ! ^^ **


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